


What Remains

by Skullszeyes



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Wings, Angst, Begging, Betrayal, Blood and Violence, Chronic Pain, Crying, Developing Relationship, Doubt, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fear of Flying, Fluff and Angst, Flying, Friendship, Government Experimentation, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Human Experimentation, Hybrids, Loss of Trust, Love, Loyalty, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mutual Pining, Regret, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Romance, Slow Burn, Trust
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2019-06-13 12:12:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 22,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15364443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullszeyes/pseuds/Skullszeyes
Summary: He lived in captivity for so long, and was set free by unlikely people, and because of him, they're targeted. He would do anything to help them, even though he doesn't know the kind of danger he's getting into.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. I think it was April or March, but I promised to write 3 stories after I finished Frayed. :D This is one of them. However, unlike the other two, His Chaos, and Our Darkest Hour. This story was actually planned longer than the others, since May 12/17, the story was - i'd fly on scorched wings. That story, was meant to be this story, but I made it into a short story, and I wanted to write an idea from that and make it a lot longer. :D So, this story is more like an alternate origin story from that short story I wrote last year. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

When he looked at light, it was dangerous and sick. He eased himself in darkness, nestled in its warmth while the cold itself lived with light.

He was young, a mind born anew, memories washed clean, thoughts prodded and situated. Because of this, they handled him with their rubber hands, and talked over him during sessions. He cried because he didn't understand what was going on.

He couldn’t speak. That was the first rule they ever taught him. Never to speak, to cry, to yell, to do anything. They told him to stay still beneath their blinding lights. One day they finally did teach him things he would consider normal. He connected words into sentences, flowing inside his mind, and at his fingertips. Soon numbers came into play, and he laughed with them as they grew in strength and tumbled down.

That was their hope that he could understand them, but he was still under their blinding lights. Always surrounded by it, but now he could speak to them. He enjoyed talking to them, until they wrote in their notebooks when he asked too many questions. When he asked about the outside.

He was always reprimanded for that, taken away into the darkness without food to fill his stomach. Crying and slamming his fists against the thick metal door, and when he couldn't do it anymore. They returned him to his room and left him on his bed that creaked under his weight.

He never asked those questions again.

Not even the one question he knew they'd do something terrible to him if he asked. It was a sliver of a moment when he entered the showers. Mirrors sat on the wall, and as he walked past them, he glanced into them and noticed his oddity.

No one else had this strangeness on them, and he was afraid to ask why that was.

He had wings.

Golden brown wings that were the size of his back, the feathers elongated to the back of his legs. He never extended them outward, he wasn’t allowed too. They managed to tie them into place with a harness, and it hurt a lot to keep them in that position for too long.

Sometimes he cried because it hurt so much. It was only when it got bad is when they allowed him to extend them.

He’d gasp, blinking a few times as the muscle and bone pulled free from the harness. His body would shake and his legs felt like they would buckle under the pain. Except as time went on, his wings began to grow stronger. They kept the harness on for weeks, even if he cried, they never gave in to his pleas. 

Only special moments with certain people was he allowed to let them extend. A large room with padding on the ground. They’d ask him to lift himself into the air, and then they’d record his progress on paper.

He tried to pull them apart, but the bone and muscle couldn't handle his weight, they weren't strong enough. The pain left him exhausted after many difficult attempts.

He was growing older. One of the people—the doctors, the scientists—recorded his age, weight and height. He was never allowed to see this documentation, and there was a time when he did sneak a peek when they left the room.

He was fourteen.

He kept the age on his mind since the first time he peeked. Each year, he knew how old he was, he stayed with his age, because at last he knew something they didn’t.

And today, he was twenty years old. 

Today, they were moving him from the facility for the first time since he could remember. They informed him while taking his blood and said it was a secret because he wasn't supposed to know.

He knew what secrets were, so he kept it.

They strapped the harness around his torso, and the pain flickered from his spine, his wings pulled together. He blinked back the tears, biting his lip to keep himself silent.

They were moving him from the facility. He should be happy, but it didn’t mean he was free, he wouldn’t be free. He came to accept that a long time ago when one doctor had hit him when he asked.

They told him he wouldn’t be seeing the sky in his lifetime. He wouldn’t feel the wind, or taste the air.

He was a bird trapped in a cage.

That’s what he was and all he will be.

He looked around the room, white walls and white floors, a white bed, and a thin white blanket and pillow. He got a few books on the side but they always took it away from him after a certain hour. He didn’t know what music was, he heard about it, but didn’t understand it.

He would never know anything beyond the walls and floors of this facility. He knew they were going to do something to him so he wouldn’t see the outside world. They were going to make sure he didn’t crave anything even though he did.

Trembling, he stayed on the bed until a doctor walked into the room and told him to follow him. It was time.

The doctor lead him down the hall, and he noticed people watching. They knew he was a bird trapped in a cage. He would never find out more than white walls and their blinding sick light.

His wings now dragged on the floor, twitching and cold, with no way of using them. They were as trapped as he is.

The doctor lead him to a cage sitting on some kind of vehicle. A way to move him out of the facility. He stared at it, it was big enough for him, but not wide for him to be able to do anything. Several men and woman stood to the side, they marveled at him, but they held something in their hands.

Weapons of some kind, pointed downwards, but if he were to do something that he wasn't supposed to do. They'd direct their attention to him.

He was lead onto the machine and into the cage.

To his surprise, they took the harness off of him. The doctor had stuck him with a syringe and he said it’ll work soon. He placed a collar around his neck before he closed the door, and one of the doctors smiled at him, and it wasn’t a warm smile. He pressed down on a device, and a sharp pain tore a harsh gasp from him. He fell onto the floor of the cage, trembling.

Everyone laughed at his pain, at his fear, and they told him that if he tried to do anything he wasn't supposed to do. He'd press down on the device again.

Shaking, his wings wrapped around his body so they wouldn't touch the bars. His eyes grew weaker, and his body became sluggish.

All he saw in their eyes was what they thought of him. A monster, a deformed creature, a thing that deserved a locked cage.

He only wanted to be free.


	2. Expectation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They infiltrate a facility, and find something they weren't expecting to find.

“What is this again?” Delirious asked. He hovered over Ohmwrecker's shoulder at the Intel in his tablet they received an hour ago.

He didn’t ask then because he was too busy heading for the changing room. They hadn’t gotten a mission in some time, and this excited him.

“Extraction,” Lui answered before Ohmwrecker could. He was checking his sniper, and counting his bullets. The others stayed silent, or checked their weapons to stave off the boredom. They were all fitted in a light tactical vest.

“What kind of extraction?” Delirious asked, hoping to get more of a specific answer.

“It doesn’t say,” Ohmwrecker said, barely inaudible from the sound of the helicopter, holding a tablet in his hand and looking over the report. “We got a serial number, so we should find that inside the facility, or whatever this place is.”

“A experimentation research facility called HYBRID.” Delirious sat back against his seat and scowled across at Wildcat who matched his glare. “Why does this sound so fucking sketchy?”

“Maybe because it is,” Wildcat said, “it’s a government facility hidden away in the fucking mountains, why wouldn’t it be sketchy?”

Delirious had nothing to say to that. He was only asking because he had the need to know what the hell they were doing. Sure it was a job assigned by a client who Lui met up with earlier that day, and the information that was sent over had him second guessing everything. What could a possible black market client want from this facility? Was it a weapon of some kind, a thing to attain or sell to the highest bidder? Or whatever they did in secret.

A job was a job he kept on saying to himself. They never hit government facilities, and the last time they did, their name was on an assassinations list for the last two years before Lui decided to do something. He was gone for two weeks, and when he returned, he told them it won’t be a bother anymore.

Whatever he did, none of them wanted to know. Lui was proficient when he wanted to be.

“We’re almost there,” Basically called from the cockpit.

Lui wore a deadpan expression when he turned toward the rest of them. He held a languid grip on his sniper rifle. “This is an extraction, meaning there are going to be soldiers inside this particular facility. Will it be messy, probably, but we dealt with worse. All we have to do is take out any opposition, find and extract whatever it is we’re taking and get out of here.”

Moo lifted a brow. “Who made you boss?”

“All you guys do is listen to me,” Lui said, a grin pulled at his lips, “why wouldn’t I be?”

“I think we should vote on this,” Fourzeroseven said from the passenger seat, “I vote Marcel.”

“He’s the pilot, he doesn’t count,” Wildcat said.

“Hey!” Basically called, obviously offended.

“I’m better than the rest of you,” Delirious cut in, “I should be the leader of this operation.”

“Just this operation?” Terroriser asked, holding an SMG in his hands.

“Shut up, you know what I mean.”

“Do we?” Lui asked, opening the door to the helicopter and a gust of harsh cold wind blew against them, “let’s go and get this done!” Then he jumped out of their sight.

“Fucking Lui,” Wildcat growled.

The rest of them made sure their parachutes were good before they jumped out after Lui. The helicopter was high above the facility, completely out of the radar signal, and hidden by their own. Lui wanted to make sure they weren’t seen completely and so he managed to jam a few signals, but it wouldn’t last long, someone was bound to see it.

Delirious got butterflies, a nausea that seemed light, but made him dizzy. He grabbed for the line and pulled like the others, and it yanked him back. He controlled it well as he descended after his friends, and watched as the low light on the sides of the buildings wasn’t enough for the flicker of bullets cutting into the air at the soldiers standing outside.

He finally landed, barely stumbling, and unhooked the parachute. He sprinted after his friends who were at the door. Wildcat using a keycard he found from one of the soldiers lying on the ground. The door opened and they walked through.

“Why is this easy?” Moo asked, walking behind with Terroriser.

“Because we’re fucking used to it,” Terroriser said, “what else could be worse than an extraction from a secret government building?”

“Hunted down by other government companies,” Delirious answered, glancing at the cameras that Nogla was knocking out with a scrambler that was the same width and length as an ordinary thin black phone.

“I don’t think that would be a problem either,” Lui said, walking ahead with Wildcat.

“Don’t act cocky, Lui,” Wildcat remarked.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

They headed down a hallway, Lui and Wildcat shooting a few more soldiers who managed to pull the trigger before they died, but ultimately missed when they fell. A puddle of blood surrounded their bodies and empty expressions.

They made sure to walk over it so they wouldn’t leave any tracks. Wildcat found another keycard on another soldier and unlocked the control room that was on the main floor. Lui went to the computer where two security guards once sat and checked out their camera system, including disabling their alarm system, and anything that could indicate there was a problem inside the facility.

“There was five minute alarm when we killed the guards outside,” Lui told them, raising his head.

“So, what? We continue or get the fuck out of here?” Wildcat asked, he was the most impatient out of the entire group.

“We keep going,” Delirious told them, gripping his gun, “we’re here, we might as well finish what we started, right?”

“If we die, this is on you,” Nogla said, looking unimpressed.

“I don’t plan on dying,” Ohmwrecker interjected absentmindedly from behind them.

Delirious wished it wasn’t, but it was a mission, and they were getting paid for delivery. They might as well continue onward, and hope they’re out of here before anyone else shows up and tries to take what is rightfully theirs.

Lui and Wildcat continued leading them down the hallway, they found a set of staircases, and Lui told them that whatever they’re here for would be in the basement of the facility. It had to be, in the report, it said that it was stationed by the secret exit that lead to a curve in the road toward the highway.

He had confirmed this by a map, of course most of it was accurate to keep the facility itself a secret. Lui managed to figure it out, and guessed that this was where they would lead outward.

They came upon scientists and researchers. A few were shocked by the sight of them, and some screamed, while others pleaded for their lives. Nogla and Delirious pushed them toward a room and told them not to come out, if they did, they’ll die. They whimpered as they left the room, and Delirious hoped their fear would paralyze them until they left the area.

More soldiers were waiting around the corner, and Lui stopped the group from proceeding the second a bullet shot against the corner when he was about to take a peak. He gave them a wry look, a shrug, and waved at Wildcat who grunted in turn.

He held his assault rifle, and braced himself before pulling the trigger as the barrel of the gun came into view of the soldiers. The bullets sprayed in a torrent as the screams of dying soldiers barely lasted a minute.

Delirious cocked his head to the side to peer around Wildcat’s heaving body. All five soldiers were lying on the ground in their own pools of blood, bullets had sunk into the white drywall, and the dents were marred in the metal door of crackling white paint.

They all heard a low groan, and Lui stepped forward first before Wildcat could. They followed him, and Delirious watched Lui take out a pistol from a holster and shoot the wounded soldier.

Delirious glanced down when he walked over the dead bodies. The bullet had gone into the man’s skull, tears had scattered across his face, grit from the drywall stuck on his skin. Whatever hope he desired, or whatever purpose he had besides protecting a government facility, it was now forfeited.

When they walked through the door, it wasn’t another hallway or a set of rooms. It was a larger room, completely white floors and white walls that were blinding from the bright lights above them. They all flinched, but they heard the sound of guns and yelling, and they reacted.

Each one of them pulled the trigger of their individual guns. At first, Delirious didn’t know what he was shooting at until he heard the faint groans and screams, the bodies hitting the ground was heavy as sandbags, and then it went silent.

“Holy fuck,” Delirious muttered, shielding his eyes. “Why so many lights?”

“Who knows,” Wildcat said, covering his eyes with his hand. “Did anyone get shot?”

“We did,” Moo said, who was knelt down, bleeding from his leg, and his arm. Terroriser was beside him, a wound in his own arm as well, both of them were looking down, away from the bright lights.

“You’ll live,” Nogla said, not even looking at them, but closing his eyes tightly.

Lui was blinking, but he had his own hand over his eyes. “Ohmwrecker, find whatever we’re looking for.”

Ohmwrecker’s shoulders tensed, he tucked his pistol in his pocket and pulled the tablet from his bag. He moved his finger over the screen and glanced around, squinting. “The intel says it should be in Area 6.”

“We are in Area 6,” Terroriser said, looking at the room number that was painted in black on the door they came through.

“Right,” Ohmwrecker murmured, and he wandered around and found a clipboard.

Except there was something that Delirious noticed. Something he wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking at, he thought maybe it was the light making him see shit, or maybe he should sleep some more when he gets back to their headquarters. He blinked, glancing at the others if they see what he can see, except they were all trying to avoid the bright lights above them.

Delirious shook his head, and then he walked toward the thing he was looking at. With each step, disbelief began to melt away, and his heart raced with a sense of fear tingling in his fingertips. “What the fuck is this?” he asked, louder than he expected, and his friends had noticed, “I want to know what the fuck this is!”

He stood in front of it, looking up, his mouth parting in complete shock.

It, or a boy, gripped the bars he was contained in, the brown wings were pulled against his back, but Delirious could see the form, longer than his own body, and they twitched with his slow movements, and the fear that was inside his dark brown eyes.

“Who are you?” he asked.

And Delirious was about to ask that same question if he wasn’t shocked and scared out of his fucking mind.


	3. Freedom or another cage?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the weird description in this one. Evan doesn't know these people, so he's describing them by their appearance. :/ 
> 
> Please leave a Comment, and/or Kudo's.

They killed everyone, even a few scientists and doctors, the soldiers lie dead on the ground several feet away. Their blood mar the white floors that blind the ones in front of him.

“What the fuck?” another said who had accompanied the one in front of him. His hair is short, a blonde color, he’s a bit taller than the rest and is holding a weapon like the soldiers they killed. They all look like they know what they’re doing, but there’s something strange about them as well.

The short black haired male with a blue vest climbed onto the vehicle. He gripped the bars the second he moved back, his wings flailing.

“What are you?” he asked, his eyes scanned his body, his wings, before settling on his eyes.

He stared, confused. “I don’t know.”

Another appeared on the side, he was taller with brown hair and was holding a clipboard like the doctors would hold when they examined him. “From the serial number. This is what we’re looking for.”

The man with the blue vest looked over his shoulder. “This?” he asked, incredulous, “this _thing_ is what we’re extracting?”

Another appeared beside them with similar short black hair, and unlike the others, he looked younger. He scrutinized him, but there was something different unlike the three in front of the cage. “Now we know why they wanted us to extract it tonight. Ohm, can you find anymore information about him, we need something that could help us understand what they were doing in this facility.”

The guy that was on the cage jumped off. “Are we taking the vehicle with us?”

“No,” the tall blond haired male said, “it would be a waste of time, we’ll take him from the cage, and bring the helicopter down.”

“What if he tries to run,” he looked back at him, a strange look crossed his face before he turned to his companions, “or fly away.”

“I don’t think so,” the other said, the one holding the clipboard. “From what I can tell, this _thing_ ,” he gave a wary look at him, “is a hybrid, hence the name of the facility. They’ve been doing this for sometime, maybe twenty-thirty years now. It’s a new project they’ve conducted without the authorization from the government. Top secret experimentation, in other words.”

“So this _thing_ is a prototype?” the man with the blue vest asked.

They looked a bit skeptical, and the one with the clipboard walked past them and picked something up from the floor. He held the object in his hand and passed it to the younger one of the group.

“What is that?” he asked.

He looked it over, raising a brow. “It’s a switch. I think it’s for the collar around the...guy’s neck.”

They all turned to him, and their eyes were empty. It made him feel small and pathetic inside the cage, his wings curled around him, but before they could touch him. A burning pain made him clench his teeth, and his hands fell onto the floor of the cage, his entire body stiffened. The pain faded, but he continued to gasp, trying to gain back his breath.

“Shock collar,” one of them said, “to keep him in line.”

“Or to keep him from flying away,” another said, amused.

“Is this how we’re escorting him out?”

“His wings might be a problem.”

He could barely hear them over the ringing in his head. He squeezed his eyes shut, fingers scraping against the metal floor, and his wings twitched, he let out a low whine from his throat and laid down on the floor. His throat burned, trembled, and he could barely breathe from the pressure. A tear leaked from his eye, trailing along his nose to his cheek where it dripped.

“Hey!”

“I think you killed him.”

“This thing might be on a high capacity. Assholes really wanted him to stay in line, they’ll possibly burn his vocal cords, which I’m thinking is what they wanted to do with him.”

“Makes sense if he’s an experiment, he probably wouldn’t have seen the light of day anyway. Not from the tarp thing on the side, they wanted him to suffer.”

“For fuck sakes, can we stop discussing this, we have to leave. Delirious, go in there, and grab him.”

“What if he attacks me?”

“Do you really think he’s going to attack you when I’m holding the remote to the shock collar around his neck?”

“R-Right. Can someone find me a key...I can’t get this thing open without one.”

“Ohm, check that guy over there.”

“No...Not this one," he mumbled.

“Check another one.”

“What the hell? You guys can at least help me out...Never mind, I found it.”

The door to the cage slid open and the sounds of heavy feet drew closer to him. A hand touched his shoulder, which made him twitch.

“Hey, get up.”

He groaned, biting his lip to keep himself from crying out.

“Yeah, yeah, it hurts like a bitch, but guess what, if you keep acting up, my friend will have to do it again, and we’ll just carry you out.”

“Hey, guys, I found a harness.”

“A what?”

“I think it’s for his wings.”

His eyes flashed open and he pushed himself up, moving away and shaking his head. He tried to speak, but his throat burned and he let out a pained gasp.

The one wearing the blue vest frowned at him. “Traumatized?” a smile twitched on his lips, “if you don’t come with us, we’ll put the harness on, and drag you out. Do you want that?”

He shook his head.

“Good. Now come here.” He extended his hand out to him.

Staring at him, he reached out and took his hand, then he was pulled to his feet. Except from the pain of the shock collar, his legs were wobbly and weak, and he fell forward into the guy. He groaned, trying to push him away.

“Calm down, alright?” he spoke, softer than he expected. “We’re getting you out of here. Just...walk...okay?”

He whimpered, taking his arm and trying to stand, but his legs kept giving out.

The guy in the blue vest sighed, gripping his arms and hauling him back up. “Stand, okay? You’re a bit taller than I expected and I’m pretty sure none of us can carry you. At least not with your wings in the way.”

He felt them twitch with his movements, but they didn’t extend outward. He kept them folded at his back, dragging along the floor. He tried walking with the help of the guy in the blue vest, and then another, the taller blond haired man helped carry him off the vehicle. His feet landed on the cold floor which sent sharp spikes along his skin.

“How old is he?” the man holding the device asked, he held something in his hand, a device the doctors sometimes used. It was thin, black, with a reflected screen. He was poking it with his finger. “From what I could source, he’s about twenty-to-twenty five years old.”

“Really?” the guy in the blue vest asked. “He looks younger.”

“Are we seriously talking about this guy’s age?” the tall blond asked, glaring at them, “can we go. Moo and Terroriser still need medical care for their bullet wounds, and who knows if the bullets hit something vital.”

“If it did,” the one holding the remote said, looking back at three men standing near a large door, “they’d be dead by now and we would have lost two members of our group.”

The guy in the blue vest took his arm, and dragged him along with his friends to the three men. They were looking at him peculiarly.

“Do we want to know?” one asked, who didn't look freaked out like the others.

“No,” the blond said, still glaring, “let’s go.”

The two men with blood leaking from their dark clothes leaned against each other. The man who was calm, and the one holding the device helped them stand. Then they were walking through the door, the guy in the blue vest helped him step over the blood and bodies they came upon.

“Basically,” the guy holding the remote spoke into something, “we have the cargo, bring the helicopter down.”

“Is it something big?” the voice in the device asked, a laugh echoed after.

“Not exactly, but we can’t carry it up, so we need you to come down to the back area of the facility.”

“Okay.”

“So,” one of the men who was injured said to the others, “what is that? Why are we escorting some guy out of here? And why does he have wings?”

“Experimentation,” the tall blond said, annoyed, “he’s a hybrid of some kind, but we’ll look into it when we get back to headquarters, so stop with the questions.”

They all went silent as they walked past dead bodies, puddles of blood, and bullet holes encased in the plaster of the white walls that he was too familiar with. At least not these particular white walls, he was never allowed this close, and was only in the basement level of the facility.

His legs were still shaky and weak, but the guy holding his arm held him up. He didn’t seem as malicious as he thought he was, but he couldn’t trust any of these people. They were here for one thing only, and he figured it wasn’t exactly for him.

They came to a long hallway and at the end was a set of doors. He felt something strange about these doors, a sort of breeze escaped from them, cold against his bare feet and chest. And as they pushed the doors opened, he gasped, almost stopping completely if it wasn’t for the guy in the blue vest dragging him.

“Calm down, it’s just the wind,” he muttered.

Except it wasn’t just the wind. It was the outside. A place where he dreamed of seeing, and his chest swelled as he stepped—for the first time—outside of the facility. The ground wasn’t as smooth, and there were a few more bodies lying in the shadows. The lights were out, and a loud sound coming from a large vehicle looking thing was sitting several feet away. His heart raced, and a sense of fear and exhilaration coursed through him, he smiled, and even though he couldn’t speak, he wanted too.

A tear rolled down his cheek at the feeling of the cold wind coming from the vehicle, but mostly from the night air. There were speckles of light above them, including a strange bright shape that he knew was the moon hanging in the sky.

His wings twitched at the feeling of the wind ruffling through his feathers. They extended from the pressure, and his eyes widened at the sharp pain that made his legs buckle. He pulled the wings against his back to ease the pain.

The man in the blue vest almost stimbled forward. “Holy shit.” His grip tightened on his arm, and the others glanced at them, their weapons barely making their way toward him. “Calm down...I get you’ve been sheltered away, but you have to calm down.”

He nodded, sucking in a deep breath, other than the pain from his wings. He was elated that he didn't care if he died by their weapons.

He was led toward the vehicle, and he was again receiving strange looks from most of them, but as the guy in the blue vest helped him inside, making sure his wings weren’t stepped on. He was strapped into a seat. He clenched his hands on the belt around his chest and waist, and instead of looking at the men staring at him, he gazed outside as the vehicle began to lift into the air.

His wings twitched at the quick jerking movements, but it became smooth as it ascended.

He was finally getting away from the facility.

He was free. As much as he could be free.


	4. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious and his friends discuss what they're going to do with The Hybrid. Lui reveals his ulterior choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo. I'm quite proud of this chapter. :D 
> 
> I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

He’s a bird. He’s a freaking bird. His wings twitched, they’re still twitching. What the fuck did they find? And what was that fucking facility doing? Creating weird ass hybrids of animals and humans. Oh, what the hell did they get themselves into doing this type of job, no one wonder they didn’t get any details from the client. They didn’t want to tell them that they were infiltrating a fucking government facility with no damn authorization for human experimentation.

“What are you?” Basically asked, blunt, which made Scotty nudge him in the side.

They returned to the base, and the bird-dude sat in the office where everyone can keep a good eye on him. And to make sure he didn’t run or fly away, but from the way he was tensing up, and that his own wings weren’t extending outward, it seemed he was in too much pain to consider flying away.

“I don’t know,” he replied, timid and less interested in making eye contact.

“He doesn’t know?” Scotty muttered, staring at the wings that kept twitching from his shoulders. “How the fuck doesn’t he know what he is?”

The hybrid curled slightly in his seat, trying his hardest not look important, but it wasn’t working, since none of them has ever seen a guy with wings.

Nogla cracked the window open, grabbing everyone’s attention and diverting it away from the hybrid. He gave a sheepish smile. “He liked the helicopter ride, he might want to feel the nice cold air instead of this stuffy room surrounded by assholes.”

Most of them frowned at him.

Delirious stood from his chair and walked over to the hybrid, he tensed again when he came close to him. “Come on, move your chair and we can sit near the window.”

“Delirious,” Wildcat warned.

“It’s fine, if he tries anything we’ll shoot him down. I’m sure our client wants a hybrid, doesn’t mean it has to be alive.” He lifted his chair while the hybrid did the same, and they walked toward the cracked open window.

The hybrid was quite eager to be near the window, but from his shape, it didn’t look like he could even fit through, not with the enormous size of his wings. They were slightly bent, and didn’t even extend correctly.

“They must’ve placed the harness on you a lot,” Delirious said, poking his wing which twitched.

The hybrid was turned toward the window and was touching the screen. “I think they liked it when my wings couldn’t extend. It hurt a lot.”

“Maybe they wanted them to shrink or deform so you wouldn’t be able to fly,” Moo offered.

“That would be a waste of an experiment,” Wildcat said.

“They sometimes tested it out. My flight, but I can’t extend them.” The hybrid winced when Delirious prodded his wing again, a soft glare was directed at him that made him smile.

Lui appeared from the hallway, he glanced around the room at them and said, “I got in contact with the client and told them we have the package.”

Wildcat clasped his hands. “Alright. Are they going to come here and pick him up, or are we being paid for delivery as well?”

Lui’s smile looked fake, and the others seemed to notice this. “I told them we’re not handing him over.”

“What?” Nogla yelled, his outburst made everyone glare at him. “Why not?”

Lui’s gaze went to the hybrid who was still faced toward the window, his hands on the screen. A look of sympathy crossed Lui’s face. “Guys...this is human trafficking. We kidnapped a government experiment from a secret facility in the mountains, and now we’re selling him to shady clients that either want to rip his wings off,” the hybrid tensed and curled inward, moving toward the window, “or someone wants to keep him as a pet and breed him to see if it carries onto his kin, and the other option,” Lui gave an uneasy look, “they want to eat him for some sick delicacy.”

Delirious and the others looked equally as disgusted as Lui did.

“So what do we do with him?” Wildcat asked, crossing his arms. “We can’t keep him. He’ll attract a lot of people, and they’ll come after us for even having him in our building.”

“I don’t like this either,” Lui said, a hand on his hip, “there must be another way we can deal with this issue.”

“Sell him,” Tyler suggested, his brows creased.

“We can’t risk our entire operation for one government experiment, we don’t even know him,” Brian said, leaning against the wall, his hand on a crutch.

Delirious watched the hybrid stare out the window. His gaze was flat, and he was no longer twitching. His wings were still folded inward, a golden brown feather was lying on the floor, simply discarded and uncared for from its host.

“We’re not selling him,” Lui told the others, crossing his arms and glaring at them.

Delirious reached down and picked up the feather, he twirled it between his fingers, and the hybrid narrowed his eyes at him. “Do you want to fly?” he asked him, a smile curving on his lips.

“You don’t have wings…” he said, ignoring the question.

Delirious sat back, “We’re human. Humans don’t have wings.”

Confliction passed over the hybrid’s face. “What am I?” His wings twitched and he attempted to extend them, except it drew a wince from him and the wings folded back in.

“We don’t know yet,” Delirious told him, unsure of what he was meant to say. If they’re going to sell him, there would be no point in caring about him, but if they kept him, what were they supposed to do with him? Teach him how to shoot, and sooner or later, teach him to fly? What is this? A zoo?

Delirious groaned at his thoughts. He shouldn’t have thought of this guy as an animal, he was obviously treated like one.

“Fine,” Nogla said, crossing his arms with a pout on his lip, “we keep him. How are we going to explain that we have some hybrid dude hanging around with us?”

“When the fuck did you grow a conscious?” Tyler asked, ignoring Nogla, and sneering at Lui.

“I always had a conscious, if I didn’t most of you would be dead by now,” Lui told him, and his tone had silenced the entire room, everyone grew tense.

Lui was rarely angry, he was always patient, telling them what they’re supposed to do, and not disagreeing with them when they made their own decisions. He wasn’t technically the leader of their group, but he was the one who cared for the work essentials enough to keep them balanced.

Tyler, angry as usual, left the room and grumbling swears as he went.

The rest stayed where they were.

Delirious watched the hybrid stare out the window. He was pretty. Dark hair that was cut recently, smooth pale skin from never truly seeing the sun, and dark eyes that hold something within. A loneliness, a hope, and maybe even happiness that he got to see the sky, even though it was dark out.

“You don’t mind staying with us?” he asked him.

“I don’t mind...if you don’t kill me, eat me, or...breed me.” The hybrid scrunched his face at the last one, and Delirious laughed.

“Don’t worry, none of us won't do anything fucked up to you. We’ll possibly teach you some things that have to do with weapons that kill other people, and maybe we can even teach you how to fly.” He liked the idea and was ignoring the curious glances from his comrades sitting and standing several feet away.

“Aren’t you afraid I’d fly away?” the hybrid asked, a devious smile pulled at the corner of his lips.

Delirious grinned back, and he wondered if the hybrid would catch the threat when he said, “I don’t think you want to fly away from me.”


	5. Find A Reason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious speaks to the Hybrid about their names, and decides to give him something to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone remembers, I fucked up on a chapter...and guess what I did. I fucked up again!!! :( Last chapter was also Delirious's pov, and this one is also DELIRIOUS'S POV!!!! FFS! :(
> 
> Oh wells. I forgot to update this, I had this in my files for weeks...and I was unsure of deleting it and rewriting it in Vanoss's POV. 
> 
> I'll try to be more consistent with the other chapters. :/ 
> 
> I hope you enjoy nonetheless. 
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

The following days after Lui decided to keep the hybrid. He wanted to give him an actual name instead of them referring to him as  _ ‘it’  _ or ‘ _ hybrid’ _ .

He told them that the scientists never gave him a name. They referred to him only as Subject E.

Delirious and his friends considered what kind of facility they had infiltrated. Delirious stayed with him, and as the days wore on, the hybrid still didn’t have a decent enough name.

They were sitting across from each other in the cafeteria and he asked Delirious what his real name was. Delirious shrugged, and told him it was Jonathan.

“Why don’t you use it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve always go by Delirious, and I got used to others calling me that." A salad sat on the table before the hybrid, who was eating the fruit instead of the leaves.

Delirious got up to retrieve him some more, and when he returned, the hybrid beamed at the fruit filled bowl. He savored each taste by how slow he was eating. Delirious was curious about him, the way he was reacting to everything that happened. He wasn’t afraid that they kidnapped him. All those years, trapped and alone, made him want freedom in whatever form it came in. 

His wings were the same throughout the days. And he slept on his stomach, hugging a pillow to his chest. He had the blanket around his waist, while his wings stayed together instead of fanning out. More feathers fell, leaving a trail of them.

Marcel and Scotty were collecting them and storing the feathers inside a glass jar. The hybrid didn't know why they were collecting them, and told them that his feathers usually fall out. He would grow more to replace them.

Lui, Brock, and Nogla asked him if they could look at his wings. At first he didn't understand why they wanted too. 

He closed his eyes and went stiff beside Delirious, who told him to relax. They weren't going to do anything that would harm him. They only wanted to check if there was any long term damage to his wings.

The hybrid nodded, he sat down on the stool, gripping the side counter until his knuckles turned white. Lui turned on a flash light and examined the bone structure from where the wings were protruding. 

Lui said it was natural, but the weight itself was making the hybrid slouch more, which ruined his posture. 

Brock examined the extended length of his wings, and touched and lifted up a few feathers to check the bones. He told them that there were indents along the upper edge of his wings, it was also bent thanks to the pressure of the harness. 

Nogla was checking the hybrid’s physicality. He touched underneath and around where the wings protruded, and down to the middle of his back. He told them that the hybrid wasn’t strong. He’d have to put on muscle if he wanted to move around faster without the wings interfering.

The hybrid inquired what Delirious thought about the results. It was a strange question, but Delirious only shrugged. The hybrid would need to extend the wings, and that could take awhile. Touching his wings brought him pain, extending them will take time.

He told him that they’ll figure something out about his wings.

“Do you think I can have a name like yours?” the hybrid asked, examining a piece of pineapple.

“What do you mean?”

His gaze flitted up to him, and he smiled. “Not a normal name...but a name like Delirious, and Wildcat, and Moo, and Terroriser.”

“You want an alias,” Delirious clarified.

He nodded. “Yeah. I want an alias.”

“We can find something for you, and you can pick which one suits you.” Delirious leaned against his palm, watching the hybrid contemplate the decision.

“I thought you’d be different, like how the soldiers were.”

Delirious didn’t know what he meant by that. Back at the facility, the halls were swarmed with soldiers, including the main area where they were taking him out. A wide door was to the side, closed shut, that must’ve been the way they were going to take him out of the facility. 

“You mean, aggressive, cold, cruel,” Delirious offered.

The hybrid’s brows creased, and there was something familiar about his eyes. A fear by what he had to go through. He shook his head, “Not aggressive, or cold, or even cruel.” He looked down at his hands, and let out a breath, he made eye contact with Delirious again and said, “Indifferent.” 

Delirious understood what he meant by indifferent. He met many soldiers, clients, mercenaries, and businessmen that were like that. Every one of them had something to hide. They looked out for themselves, and profited off the illegality of their actions. Delirious didn’t like talking to them. He was fine standing in the back while Lui, Nogla, or even Wildcat dealt with them. 

“We’re indifferent,” Delirious said, “but it doesn’t mean we don’t care if something feels wrong to us.”

The hybrid laughed, and he recognized it as a fake laugh, Lui and Wildcat do it all the time. And there was that same devious look inside his eyes. “You were going to sell me, you all were, before your leader decided he didn’t like what was going to stay on his conscious.” He looked away from Delirious’s eyes, “I wouldn’t have mattered to you, to any of you if he decided to go through with it.”

Delirious didn’t disagree with him. That was the difference of living a life like this, and staying in captivity for so long. Everything was unfair to one without the knowledge to understand that this life is cruel all on itself. Redeeming it was pointless. Everyone creates fantasies for themselves to get through the day until they die.

“We never dipped our fingers in human trafficking,” Delirious said. Hoping to ease his distrust.

The hybrid shook his head. “I’m nothing to you, to any of you.”

“It doesn’t mean you can’t prove yourself that you can be useful. If not, then all you’ll be is a liability, and Lui will see it soon enough, and he won’t hesitate to kill you.” This seemed to bother the hybrid, his body tensed, but his gaze stayed downcast. “Lui will kill you if you don’t serve a purpose, or even if he doesn’t find something to do with you. You’re valuable to a lot of people, and killing you would be better than keeping you alive. So instead of doubting your existence, how about you find a reason to keep living.”

The hybrid stayed quiet, eating his fruit.

Delirious got up and walked off, but he could feel his eyes on him. He found Nogla and Terroriser in the common room, playing cards with beers next to them. 

“Fuck off, Brian.” Nogla scowled.

Terroriser fell back into his chair, laughing. “That’s what you get for winning last time, asshole.”

“Have you seen Marcel and Scotty?” Delirious asked, watching Nogla pile up the cards.

“They’re in the shooting range,” Terroriser said, leaning his elbows on his knees and smiling up at him. “So, how’s the _ thing _ in the other room?”

“Of all insults you could've called him. You decide on _ thing, _ ” Nogla asked, arching a brow.

Terroriser shrugged. “That’s what _ it _ is. Lui should’ve handed  _ it  _ off and we would’ve got paid. But now, we’re going to get killed in a matter of days for having  _ it _ inside our fucking base!”

“Chill out, Brian,” Marcel said, entering the room with Scotty.

“I was looking for you,” Delirious said, “I want to teach him how to shoot.”

“Great, you’re giving the hybrid a weapon,” Terroriser said, looking at his cards.

Scotty was glaring at them, but Marcel shrugged. “Have you asked Lui about it?”

“He ain’t our mother,” Nogla commented, placing down a card and grinning at the disgust on Terroriser’s face.

Marcel grinned. “There’s your incentive, Delirious. If you want to teach him to shoot, you do that.” He and Scotty left the room, and Delirious headed back to the kitchen. He found him getting his own fruit, his golden brown wings twitched.

“I found something you can do,” Delirious told him. The hybrid turned around, placing a strawberry into his mouth. “I’ll teach you how to shoot a gun.”

The hybrid’s brows rose, shock was there for only a moment before his smile returned. If this worked out, what would happen to him, to this hybrid who wore a devious smile, talked back, and ate fruit. One day he'll spread his wings and soar the sky. The freedom he always wanted.

“Right now?” the hybrid asked, placing down the fruit bowl.

Delirious grinned, “Right now.”


	6. he honors his freedom with a name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They set him free from a cage, and he knows that in stories, they should be the bad guys, but he's not so sure there are any in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo. :D Last chapter, I was having second thoughts about my stories, but I feel better since now it seems to be going in a different direction than I though it would. :) I guess in that scene, I wasn't sure, but now that it's over, it's okay!!
> 
> Anyway, thanks to whoever is still reading this story!!!
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

He flinched when he pulled the trigger, a gasp leaving his lips, and he winced when his back tensed, including his wings. His mouth watered from the pain. Clenching his teeth down, he steadied himself, pointed the gun and fired again. He tensed again, clenching harder to stop himself from yelping at the sharp pain. His wings kept twitching every time he fired.

The sounds inside the facility when Delirious’s group killed all the doctors, scientists, and soldiers had also scared him. His wings were painful that he wrapped his fingers tightly around the bars while watching the spray of blood grow stark on the white floors.

Holding a gun, the weight, and the steadiness of his finger against the trigger was surreal. He fired again when the target moved back and forth. Delirious put the speed on slow since he didn’t know how to shoot properly. Since he never fired a gun before. He fired the gun until it was empty and looked back at Delirious who was leaned against the wall, staring at his phone. A small device that was like the touchpad his associate held, including the scientists that looked him over, their fingers pressing against the surface.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

Delirious glanced up. “Reporting to Lui where we are.” He tucked his phone into his pocket, “finished?”

He nodded. “When you kill people...is it like shooting the target?” He indicated the black and white target that was shaped of a body with holes in it.

Delirious stared at the target for a moment, and he thought maybe he said something wrong. There was no sadness in his eyes, maybe a dead look that he noticed several times since knowing him, and his associates. Did they all look like they all didn’t have souls? Or maybe they didn’t look at the world anymore, nor at the people. Trapped between doing something good, and something bad. And it seemed it always leaned toward the bad.

Delirious pushed himself away from the wall, he plucked the gun from his hand, and picked up a magazine, shoving it into the gun. He watched Delirious point the gun, his back was strong in his stance, his arms firm beneath the blue sweater. It kind of scared him to look at this man who seemed to help him, to keep him company. A thing that was trapped in a cage with broken wings, unable to fly.

He fired the gun which even with the ear muffs, the sound still made him flinch, his wings twitching with each pull of the trigger. He winced, letting out a soft groan which he didn’t think Delirious would hear until he stopped and turned, brows pinched as he looked at him.

“Are you alright?”

He nodded. “I’m fine. I’m not used to the sound.” He never heard it before inside the facility. Only echoed screaming and cries that came from him. Nothing as loud and terrible as a gun going off.

Delirious frowned and looked down at the gun. He placed it down on the table and turned to him. “After awhile of being in this world...we normalize the terrible things. Even how much we want to fight it, and change it, and avoid it. We always normalize it to an extent. Killing is the same, and sometimes there’s the thrill of it, of watching someone die, having their blood on your hands, and the guilt becoming a disgusting reminder. We normalize it.”

Did he normalize it? Inside those white walls and white halls, with the men and women in their long coats and sweet sickening smiles, and tired words leaving their lying mouths. Did he normalize that? They played with his freedom, and because of that, they were empty shells with red coating their precious barriers that held him in.

Out of all of them, he was free of death. He might have gotten something worse, but all that mattered that he was free.

“Come on,” Delirious said, leading him toward the door, “I’ll teach you more about guns, and cars.”

“Cars?” he asked.

“Vehicles,” Delirious clarified, which didn’t help his understanding. “Maybe we should get you some kid books and teach you the alphabet.”

He glared. “I know the alphabet. I’m not stupid. I never seen a vehicle...or guns before. That’s all.”

“Right,” Delirious nodded, not the least looking sympathetic when he said, “sorry.”

He kept looking at the magazines. Flipping through the pages, and placing one down before picking up another. Over and over again, it was all the same. A pattern of staring at vehicles with different but similar names. Little pointers telling him what was what, but the words flew by him, and he had no interest in any of them. Not until he stopped on a page and he stared at a single word on the page. It looked strange, he placed his finger over it and ran it along again and again until he felt a nudge against his shoulder.

He looked up at Delirious who was indicating him to follow him. He dropped the magazine, the word still stuck on his mind. He followed Delirious through the halls until he found himself back into the white room with the white bed that had padding on it. A room that reminded him of the facility, the smell was the same, and he stopped from taking a step into the room. When Delirious noticed him, he looked back at Brock who was the only one in the room, his hands covered in white latex gloves and was holding a bottle with a creamy substance.

“Come here,” Brock said, a warm smile lifting upon his lips.

He bit down on his lower lip and stepped into the room. Taking a few deep breaths with each step, he sat down on the bed, and watched Brock turn him to the side.

“Your wings are damaged, and this will help them heal.”

“What is it?”

“Medicine,” Brock answers plainly, “it’ll help, but it also might sting.”

“Sting?” he asked, but tensed when the coldness was spread upon his wings. It didn’t soothe it, and Delirious came to his side, letting him grip his arm. Biting down on his lip, he closed his eyes, and let Brock cover the rest of his wings with the stinging cold cream. Once he was finished, Brock looked his wings over, making sure the cream was everywhere it needed to be. When he finished, he explained to him that he shouldn’t touch it, or even bother it if it started to itch. If it’s too much of a bother, let him know, and he’ll try another ointment.

Brock left the room, leaving him with Delirious.

Letting go of his arm, he concentrated on his breathing.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Delirious said, sitting beside him on the bed. “You should feel how it is to get shot.”

“You got shot?” he asked, raising his brows. He seen the bullets, knew what they’d do when punctured into skin and bone. The bodies fell like dolls unattached by strings, some in excruciating pain, while others simply twitched and stopped moving. Their breathes always taken from them, always stumbling, trying to hold themselves up so they wouldn’t die from the little things inside their weapons.

He’d never want to come close to feel the impact.

“Yeah. In my leg,” he pulled his pant leg up and showed him the scar. “It took awhile for it to heal.”

“How do you feel now?”

Delirious shrugged, his gaze steady on nothing but the empty doorway that lead out into the empty hall. “A bullet is a bullet, it’s going to hurt even if you don’t want it too.”

How many did they deal with? The violence that destroyed their state of mind? How did they sleep?

When he slept inside the facility, it was fitful night's imagining the outside world. His only true reference was the books he was given. The picture books with their bright colors, attracting his attention for minutes to hours. Asking for more, and receiving the same ones he read an hour beforehand, or he would read the same book on the same day. A constant cycle of staring at a dark ceiling and pretending he knew what the sun felt like when it was described as hot, or even the night when it was described as cold.

A family.

That was normal in each book. A flourish of a father, a mother, a sister, and a brother. Over and over, happy faces upon their similarly drawn designs and colors.

When he escaped, the world was not how he imagined it. It was more, a beautiful landscape that his imagination couldn’t fathom until his eyes were set upon the rolling hills below and the glinting stars above, the coldness had set his teeth chattering together, but the exhilaration of finally feeling it, experiencing it. It was a dream, one that was made into a reality by the harsh array of bullets slamming into the tile walls, and blood spraying from collapsing bodies.

Family.

The people who took him away from his metal cage. They were like the enemies of each story, the villains who stored away the princess, who broke the wings of a crying bird. They tortured many, their rage triumphed upon the hero, but the hero still managed to cut them down.

Why did that make him angry?

He didn’t want the hero to win.

Or maybe he was the hero of this story. The one who was trapped, formed into something else for the scientists to study. They mocked him, played him as the fool. Berated him, and treated him less than a person. The villains of the story did not treat him like that, were varied upon their opinions of him. And they were something more than the same old hero and villain, because he believed that they were both. Blending together into the good and the bad.

Isn’t that normal?

Delirious slipped off the bed.

He slipped off the bed after him, and before he could take a step, he opened his mouth, and said, “Delirious?”

He stopped and his gaze was heavy with something that was close to burden. Something hung around his shoulders, dragging him down.

“What is it?” he asked.

A family. Formed of unlikely people who were not heroes and who were not villains, but both. A fairy tale, the same he read inside that small little room with the thin blankets.

They set him free, and in turn, did not clip his wings. He was free, and one day, he’ll be able to fly to wherever he wants to go. But he knows one thing about this exchange of freedom. He’ll have to help them.

“I think I have a name in mind.”


	7. rare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious is having some issues with the hybrid, but things are getting a bit worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo. I realize that Evan is completely OOC, since he's a goofy dude, but in my story he's completely the opposite. Oh wells. It's fanfiction ffs. :D Yeah, so this was partially finished, and I quickly wrote it. Hopefully it's not crap, and maybe I'll figure it out some other time, but I'm tired. :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.

Delirious lead the hybrid upstairs and down the hall. They sauntered into the kitchen where he took out a carton of orange juice. The hybrid watched him as he reached for two glass cups and placed them down.

“You know what this is?” Delirious asked.

“A drink.”

Delirious smiled. He wasn’t sure if he was joking, but from his fascination as Delirious poured the juice into each of the cups. “Those doctors and scientists never gave you orange juice?” 

He tilted his head to the side. “Sometimes they gave me something sweet, but I never asked about it.” 

“And I was getting the feeling you were curious of the outside world.”

The hybrid’s expression scrunched at the comment. “I am curious.” He reached for the juice and marveled over the glass. “They always gave me the styrofoam cups, and sometimes the plastic ones that were see through like this.” 

“Heavier than plastic cups,” Delirious remarked, taking a sip.

He watched the hybrid place his lips on the rim of the cup. His eyes widened and he moved away. Mouth parting, he drank more, but this time with his eyes closed. 

“You’re tolerant.”

The hybrid wiped his mouth. “What is that supposed to mean?” 

“It means you’re a little too soft, even for this world. But it’s not like we can leave you somewhere.” He didn’t mind thinking about the options that they could try and get rid of him. Why let him stay with them when there was truly no hope for him? And he figured Lui didn’t want to recruit him into their group anyways. They were stalling, and making sure the hybrid wasn’t thinking of any other possibilities. They were giving him a false hope with lies that splintered between the knowledge that death is easily taken. Someone like him with bent wings who lived in isolation wouldn’t understand that. 

And if he was broken into it. 

Time would tell how he’d be at the end of it all. 

Right now, they didn’t have that kind of time. 

Lui had to find out their odds, and then they can figure out the rest afterwards. 

“You would leave me somewhere?” the hybrid asked, staring down at his half empty glass. 

“It would be better than staying with us,” Delirious responded.

The hybrid shook his head, brows pulling together. “I would be safer here.”

“You don’t know that.”

He looked at him, and said, “You don’t either.”

Delirious had the urge to smile, to acknowledge the flutter inside of him. Except that small moment vanished when Terroriser stepped into the kitchen, one hand on the doorpost. He looked between them, and in a completely disinterested tone, he said,  “Lui wants us in the briefing room.” 

“Okay,” Delirious told him, and Terroriser turned around on his heel and headed down the hall. He looked down at the hybrid who glanced over to him, confusion filled his brown eyes. “Let’s go.”

“I’m not part of your group,” the hybrid said, curling his fingers at his sides, “even how much I’d like to pretend.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Delirious said. “Let’s go to the briefing room and see what Lui has to say.”

The hybrid was hesitate at first, but he soon followed behind Delirious down the hallway. 

He wouldn’t deny that he was nervous about what Lui had to say. He felt sorry for the hybrid when he first laid eyes on him inside the cage. Of course the job came first, and feeling mercy for every unfortunate person he comes across would only make him a liability. He had to do what others couldn’t. Even how cruel it was, and sometimes he even enjoyed making those types of decisions. If they have to get rid of the hybrid, they might as well get rid of him soon. 

He strolled into the briefing room where the rest of his friends were. Lui was sitting on the table, his legs dangling, and his hands beside him. His gaze was always empty, hiding something within that always made him seem innocent. An individual with false bravado and mischief. Except that was all Lui was, beneath his skin, he was something more dangerous than the rest of them.

He tended to them with ease, making sure he knew where they were, what they were going to say, and how they felt. He never left anything out. He was careful. 

The hybrid stepped into the room after Delirious, cautious as he kept his eyes downcast, his wings folded to his back. It made him look tense, uncomfortable as he stood in the threshold.

Delirious once read a myth about a boy who flew too close to the sun and fell with burned wings. Maybe whoever created the hybrid, they were trying to reenact that story. It didn’t seem to have worked when he didn’t know how to fly, nor even understand the concept of death. Maybe the boy in the story didn’t know that either, not like he ever read the entirety of it. 

“I’ve received intel,” Lui announced, wrinkling his nose as if he hated what he found out. “Two mercenary groups have been confirmed in the last two hours.”

“That quickly?” Basically asked, tilting his head and frowning.

“I’d say they’re quite slow,” Wildcat cut in, smirking. “I expected this response the moment we returned with the package.”

“Who are they?” Moo wondered. 

“CHROME and HIVE,” Lui said, rolling his eyes. “I know what you’re—”

“Are you fucking serious?” Nogla asked, who stood ten feet away from Lui, his arms crossed against the wall near Terroriser. “CHROME and HIVE picked up the contracts.” He dropped his hands at his sides, shaking his head at Lui who frowned back at him. “We might as well die now.”

“Let’s not get a head of ourselves,” Wildcat said.

“We’re dead,” Nogla yelled, his gaze falling on the hybrid who was avoiding everyone’s eyes. “We should get rid of him. Hand him over to one of those fuckers and be done with it.”

“Exactly,” Terroriser said, keeping his eyes on the floor. 

Voices piled up each other in the next several minutes. Lui stayed on the table, watching everyone with disdain. And Delirious had stepped back toward the hybrid who was covering his ears, his wings had slightly folded on his sides, but they couldn’t fully cover him. He shuddered when Delirious placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“Everything will be okay,” he told him, hoping it was true.

The hybrid shook his head. “No, it’s not. They’re right. I should leave. This was a waste of time.”

What an ugly thing to say. Locked away, examined for most of his life, and there was no one part of him that truly knew he deserved freedom. 

Delirious didn’t fully understand it since he was always free amongst his friends. But he sympathized with him anyway, and turned to his arguing friends.

“How much?” he asked, looking at Lui, and his friends became quiet at the implication.

Lui crossed his arms over his chest and said, “60 mil.”

“That’s it?” Wildcat asked.

“I mean, it could set a lot of people up for life,” Moo cut in. 

“Whoever captures the hybrid first gets an interest,” Lui said, shrugging his shoulders, “that’s how some organizations are.”

Confused, Basically said, “This is a government facility we’re dealing with, how do they—”

“He must be the only one of his kind,” Lui answered.

And they all looked at the hybrid who raised his eyes to them. Delirious knew they were all coming to the realization that he was completely rare. His own species. Half human, half owl. Most people’s dream to see a human with wings as if they’re an angel fallen from heaven, or one who had rejected heaven and lived on earth where they were experimented on. Either way, he was the only one of his kind that existed. 

Delirious let out a chuckle, it reminded him of something that he and the hybrid had spoken about. 

“I forgot, he came up with a name for himself.” Delirious reached back and brought the hybrid forward. “Introduce yourself.”

The hybrid smiled, and said, “My name is...Vanoss.” 


	8. escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're compromised, so is Vanoss's growing feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. Tbh, this story is a bit more difficult to write than the others. And it's kind of agonizing to write. :/ I'm not sure why. It has an outline, so I'm not sure why I feel these feelings. Either way, I'm trying, but this story will possibly take a back seat every few days or so. Just so I don't burn myself out while writing one simple chapter when I should be updating more. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.

The arguing continued and with Delirious distracted. Vanoss left the room and sauntered away until the echoes became distant. He walked into a large open room and sat in the center. He curled and uncurled his fingers, trying to exercise his breathing, and relax Except he couldn’t. There was too much going on inside his head that he couldn’t filter out all the things most of them had said. 

He was a liability. 

He remembered the scientists and doctors always talking about him. He would sit on a stool and wait until he was returned to his room. They were never shy in what they wanted to discuss, even if he was in the room with him. As if he couldn’t hear them and understand them. It was around the time when he learned how to read, and some of them might have forgotten this. 

They laughed and it stung his ears. Special little creature stuck inside a cage. Maybe one day they’d clip his wings and rid the body of life. One day soon when they had what they wanted from him, he would be nothing more, but a nuisance. Their experiments wouldn’t last forever, and they would try again with another subject. 

_ “He’s pretty.”  _ A young doctor had said one time. She spoke this to a few of her colleagues, and her gaze fell upon his body. He didn’t know what it meant. Pretty. He was never called that. Sometimes insults were iron mixed in with spit, or the burn of a handprint upon his face. 

Never has he heard someone speak to him in such a way. And he was curious, so he turned his head to look at her. Her eyes widened, and she glanced away, her brown straight hair hid her plain tan features, and her colleague laughed at her. 

_ “He’s only a boy. A thing meant for disposal. Find yourself another to warm your bed.”  _ Her face reddened at the thought, and after that day, he didn’t see her again. Maybe she transferred, or maybe something did happen to her once she shown interest. He didn’t understand, and he never questioned them when they stared at him for too long. Because for once, they weren’t looking at a creature with wings that couldn’t bend, but someone that could be dealt with differently. 

It was the same feeling, except most of the people in the building were hostile and distant. Except Delirious who didn’t say much, nor did he stare at Vanoss for too long. There was something empty about each of them that continued to move around and work. What drove them to do this constantly? And how did they know each other? They were familiar with each other enough to call each other insults. 

Vanoss slowly rolled his shoulders and winced when a splitting pain made him inhale a heavy gasp. He waited until he did it again, over and over until that pain softened. 

“I have to do this,” he whispered to himself, pressing his hands on the cold tile floor. “I have to do this.” 

He moved his wings again, letting them flutter and twitch before attempting to stretch them. This was the only way he knew that he can be useful. Sure, they saved his life, but it didn’t mean that was their entire motive. If he stayed useless, they would take advantage of that like the scientists did. 

Vanoss gulped down breathes and quickly wiped away a tear streaking down his cheek. He silently cursed the scientists for doing this to him. They knew he wasn’t going to ever be free, and they took advantage of his feelings. Pretending he didn’t have any. A silly, stupid experiment with no experience of the outside world. He wanted to escape for so long, and when he got his wish, he wasn’t about to become another experiment again. He wasn’t going to end up trapped. 

The first thing he thought of that could eventually help him was the wings. His wings. Golden brown on top and dark brown below. Soft and damaged of years of suppression. 

He would escape.

He would be free

Vanoss wiped another tear away from his face. 

_ I want to stay free. _

His wings twitched and spread several inches. Panting, he pulled them back in, releasing breathes, before doing it all over again. If he can get them out of the painful state they are, then he can try to figure out how to fly. That might take longer. He hadn’t used his wings like that since he was younger. When he was lighter, and less damaged. 

_ It was progress. _

_ That’s what matters.  _

_ Progress. _

“Vanoss.” 

He twisted around, and Delirious was rushing into the room, reaching for him and grabbing his arm. Pulling Vanoss to his feet, but not letting go of his arm as he dragged him from the room. 

“We have a problem.”

“What’s happening?” he asked, noting Moo and Terroriser running past them with bags in their hands. 

“Meet me at the rendez-vous point,” Tyler called down the hall to Nogla and Lui.

“Come on, Scotty, we have to go!” Marcel stood by the threshold of a doorway before Scotty appeared, panting low as he held a bag slung over his shoulder. 

“I’m taking Vanoss to the safehouse on the east side of the city,” Delirious called to Tyler who was pulling his jacket on. 

“I’ll call you when I know we’re all fucking okay,” Tyler said, and he was gone down a hallway. 

“Delirious,” Vanoss whined, pulling on his arm, “what’s going on?”

“They found our base,” Delirious said, tugging Vanoss toward a grey door in the back of the base, they went down the long cold steps to the bottom. 

“How?” he asked, panting.

“I don’t know,” Delirious answered, glancing to the end of the parking garage where Tyler was already backing out and waving in a black SUV.

Delirious led Vanoss to a dark sleek blue car and unlocked the door. “Get in the back if your wings hurt.” He slid into the driver's seat, while Vanoss opened the door to the back seat and crawled inside before slamming it shut. 

“Is it because of me?” he asked once Delirious started the car and backed up, making a loud screeching noise on the pavement. 

Delirious chuckled, but it held no humor. “Of course it’s about you. No agency would come after us without a fucking reason.”

Vanoss was taken back, but said nothing. He held onto the back of the passenger seat, gasping when Delirious didn’t hold back on his driving. Once they were out of the parking garage, he didn’t spend time on obeying the bright lights like everyone else. 

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Shut. Up. Vanoss.”

He winced, digging his fingers into the upholstery. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I don’t fucking care,” Delirious said, gripping the steering wheel as he made a sharp turn which made Vanoss yelp when he hit the door, and the pain from his wings split throughout his back. “It’s happening. Okay. They didn’t fucking wait, so we’re going to find a way out of this and hope that they don’t find us.”

“What are we going to do?” he asked, whimpering. 

“Find time,” Delirious answered.

Pain. Pain. Pain. Too loud throughout his back, burning in his veins, crackling through his bones. He wiped away tears from his face and concentrated on holding on and breathing. 

This was because of him. They were going to die because of him. Why did he have to have wings? Why did he have to be like this?

“If I was normal,” Vanoss said, gasping, “If...I was normal—”

“If you were normal, we wouldn’t have met,” Delirious said, cutting him off and making another sharp turn, but he made sure to slow down enough for Vanoss to hold on and not make the same mistake as he did before. 

“We would’ve met in different circumstances,” Vanoss said, almost pleading, knowing that if they had met differently, they wouldn’t be like this. 

“Different circumstances?” Delirious scoffed. “Are you serious? If we met, you wouldn’t even have caught my eye.”

Vanoss grimaced. “I was thinking about—”

“Yeah, friends, how the fuck am I, an agent going to be friends with some random kid?” 

“I’m not a kid!”

“Sure, sure, okay, you’re not, little owl.” Delirious laughed, it was chaotic, a maniacal laughter that was infectious, making Vanoss laugh with him. He turned the window down a bit, and the cold wind ran along his skin and through his hair. The adrenaline and fear singing together in his nerves that it somehow made him comfortable. His wings seemed soothed by it.

They made it to a small house on the East side of the city. Delirious made sure the car was hidden by a group of trees with low hanging branches. He led Vanoss to the house and knocked once. When they got no answer, he shoved the door open and they walked inside.

“Do you own this place?” he asked.

“No.” 

Vanoss followed Delirious into a larger portion of the house that was dim with yellow stained blinds. The carpet was dark with strange prints, and the couches were green with rips from previous use. 

He was about to ask if the house was abandoned when he caught Delirious pulling off his sweater, and his grey shirt. He glanced around the white counters and white cupboards, and stained fridge, but his gaze always went back to Delirious. Who didn’t look bothered that he had taken off his shirt and was draping himself on the couch with a deep sigh. 

Vanoss blinked a few times, unsure of what he was supposed to say or do. He took careful steps forward and glared at the floorboards that kept making noise with his movements. 

“Are you going to sleep?” he asked. 

“Trying too,” Delirious answered. 

Vanoss sat down on the couch beside him and reached for Delirious’s blue sweater. It didn’t smell clean, and he figured that Delirious didn’t really clean his clothes. But he leaned back into the chair, and held the blue sweater, knowing that apart from the strange smell, Delirious’s was laced within the fabric. And he fell asleep to that. 


	9. liability

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious gets a phone call from Lui and Tyler, and Delirious is unsure about their decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter because it's just Delirious on the phone. :/ I should've made it longer, but there wasn't much to do with my outline...
> 
> I hope you enjoy anyway.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

He paced for several hours while Vanoss slept on the couch, his arms clutching his sweater. He watched the sun set and darkened the room before he stood in the kitchen. He braced the counter and stared at his phone with its dark screen. It was times like this when he despised staying in a single place. His heart and mind wanted movement, his body yearned for it. Something to grasp hold and send him down the street, into a car, and locate his friends, or even the people who infiltrated their base. 

He needed something.

And then his phone lit up and he took a breath before picking the phone up. He turned, leaned against the counter, and placed the phone to his ear.

“Are you alone?” Lui asked, his voice low, the background noise was quiet. 

Delirious glanced to the living room and at the hybrid curled on the couch. “Yeah. Where are you?”

“Safe house. Rather not say on the phone.” Lui sighed. “CHROME made the hit.” 

Delirious scowled. He knew one of them did it, it was a matter of time before they were dug out of their little hideout. He didn’t expect it to happen that quickly. 

“And they invited HIVE to take over the base.”

The words scraped his bones and gave him a headache, but with all that, he managed to say with enough patience. “What do we do?” 

“Right now? I’m thinking we stay low for a bit until I figure out a solid plan.”

“What are we going to do with the hybrid?” 

Lui chuckled. “Wow. Delirious, I know you lost your spark a long time ago, but you’re ready to shove him under the bus already?”

Delirious pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth and glanced to the living room at the hybrid. His wings twitched, shifting, going completely still. Something so innocent who wanted nothing more to touch the blue of the sky, and breathe air that wasn’t fresh, but new. Unlike Delirious who only knew the hard surface of concrete and spilled blood, the emotions smothered by death ticking off his fingers when he no longer counted them. It was inevitable. Broken skin, a fickle mind, and splintered memories twining together until it felt more like barbed wire and cigarette burns.

“I think we should trade him in.”

“For what?”

“For our freedom. We don’t do this job for a fucking heart, Lui. And we can’t just keep him out of a sense of consciousness.” He turned his body away from the living room. “We have to make a choice.”

“We already made a choice,” Lui said, soft and sure. “It’s  _ you _ who has a problem with this.”

“I’m just saying. If we did the opposite, give them everything we have, they will still want him for his rarity. And we still have to fight for what? A creature? An experiment who doesn’t even know the world itself is complete shit.”

“What are you afraid of, Delirious?”

The question stunned him, and reminded him of the silence of the house they were squating in. The harsh edge in Lui’s voice, but it was also strangely soft. An understanding, but also a confusion. He was trying to figure him out, except he couldn’t, and Delirious was trying his hardest to shut it out. 

What are you afraid of?

_ What am I afraid of? _

He looked backed at the Hybr—Vanoss. He looked at him, and knew that he wasn’t a kid, he was an adult, and he was damaged from isolation. And it made him angry at the people who had done this to him. 

“I’m not afraid of what’s going to happen,” Delirious finally spoke, strangely desperate, “I’m afraid that if we fail, it’ll all be for nothing. Everything we built up to this point for a stranger.”

“This _ stranger  _ needs our help,” Lui said, “I know it might sound fucked up for us to say that. Money is everything to this world, but it doesn’t mean that we should sell our souls for a bunch of paper. We have enough to accomodate us, we’re skilled, and we’re persistent. We can figure this out. Don’t lose faith, Delirious.”

“Maybe it was a bad thing to take the contract,” Delirious said, closing his eyes. “Maybe we should’ve skipped out.”

“Yeah, but we didn’t,” Wildcat’s voice entered his ear, “quit fucking moping, Delirious, it ain’t like you to simply lie down like a wounded dog.” 

Delirious rolled his eyes. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Silence.

He should leave.

It would be better. 

Maybe he could find them. Kill them. Return him and his friends to the stretch of space they were accustomed too. Or maybe he was truly acting like a wounded dog. This wasn’t the end. A simple set back. That’s all.

“I’m sorry.”

Wildcat scoffed. “You better be.”

His comment made Delirious smile. “You’ll figure something out?” he asked Lui.

“Yeah,” he answered, “I will. Stay low. Keep him safe. I’ll call in the next few hours or even days. Depends when I locate CHROME and HIVE’s soldiers. They should be stationed around the city.”

“I’d say, be careful, but you already know to do that.”

Lui chuckled. “Yeah. Don’t do anything reckless, Delirious. We have to approach this with a delicate hand. If we fuck it up, they won’t hesitate in fucking us up.”

Wildcat laughed before hanging up the phone, and Delirious placed his own down onto the counter. The thought was brittle. Wanting to take him back, to shove him off and watch him fall, knowing that the hybrid can’t fly. 

Delirious left the kitchen and wandered back toward Vanoss who stayed curled on his side, his wings slightly bent. Pain became less of an issue when his eyes closed to sleep. He was still holding onto Delirious’s blue sweater, fingers pressed into the fabric, and mouth slightly opened as he breathed softly.

He knelt down in front of him and gave him a small empty smile. “If you’re not going to be a liability, we’re going to have to teach you how to fly. And by  _ we _ , I mean _ me _ .” Rolling his eyes, he got up and headed upstairs. He needed time to think and be alone before their little training session. 


	10. admiration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanoss is trying to extend his wings and learn more about Delirious.

It hurt. The muscle pulled and the wings disconnected from the press of his back. His spine burned, ribs aching as he sucked in a breath. He dug his fingers into the dirt, clenching his teeth as he squeezed back tears from his eyes. It was hot, the pain burning away the cold of the morning air. He couldn’t even enjoy that once Delirious woke him up and told him they were going to start separating his wings. He wanted Vanoss to use them properly if the times comes.

He didn’t mind. He wanted this for a long time. He expected the pain shoving him to his knees, hands finding purchase in the dirt. Wings separating inch-by-inch before he let out a cry and his arms gave out. Breathing heavily, dirt brushing away from his open mouth.

His wings drew inward again for the sixth time. His body shuddered, and he was exhausted in the short amount of time they were outside. 

“Get up,” Delirious said, sounding unhappy. 

Vanoss cleared his throat and attempted to get up, but a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him to his knees. 

“Thanks,” he panted once Delirious stepped back, tucking his hands into his blue sweater. 

“Again,” Delirious said. 

Vanoss frowned. “What if I can’t do it?”

“Well, you’re going to have too.”

He sounded bitter since he woke up, and he wasn’t entirely sure why. He tried again, spreading the wings as far as he could, feeling each crack and watching several feathers flutter in the grass and dirt beside him. His limbs shook, and his breath came out shaky.

And he fell again. 

Groaning in pain. It reminded him back at the facility. The first few times when his wings began to grow, and they measured the length, the feathers, the molting, and his own weight. He was thin, barely an ounce of muscle that allowed him to jump high enough for the wings to pull him up. They tried different ways to do this, to find their success while all he felt was fear of falling, fear of the pain, fear that it won’t work. And then it did, as if something unusual happened, the wings pulled back, flapping on either side, grasping the air and yanking Vanoss away from the blue mats below him. 

Around that time, he was growing older, and they decided to put the harness on. That was painful, but not as painful that he couldn’t even spread his wings, that he couldn’t pull them apart. 

“Do you know what they wanted from you?” 

“No,” Vanoss says, shaking his head once he pushed himself to his knees.

Delirious didn’t look impressed by the reply. “They created you, raised you, and tested you underground, and you don’t know why they kept you for so long? They put on a harness to keep your wings secure. Why?”

“When I was young...they let me fly,” Vanoss rose to his feet, glaring at Delirious, “I know how it feels to be off the ground. To have an ounce of freedom they manage to give before they pinned my wings together. I know what they took from me.”

“And you’re going to continue letting them take it?” Delirious asked, frowning. “You’re going to give up?”

Vanoss shook his head. “No.”

Delirious leaned close. “Then prove them wrong.”

The words sunk in, a sensation rippling through his body that was frightened of the pain, and it reminded him of what he knew when he was young. He didn’t want them to lose interest. He needed to continue developing, but the day when they placed him into the cage. He knew that day was going to happen, and it did, maybe it was a good thing they kept him on the main floor where Delirious and his friends would find him. 

Vanoss was back on his hands and knees, taking in a deep breath as he slowly pulled his wings apart, letting them stretch out. The pain was sharp along his spine, and shoulder blades. He hadn’t noticed, but his wings were also heavy. 

His breath stuttered, gasping in air until they were fully stretched outwards, his wings not exactly straight, but it was enough for Delirious to help Vanoss to his feet. The wings stayed slightly out enough for him to move properly. 

Vanoss stared at the ground, gritting his teeth. He hadn’t realized he was crying until Delirious wiped away a tear from his face. 

“You’ll be fine,” Delirious said, giving him a small smile. “You did it. You managed to finally extend your wings.”

“It hurts,” Vanoss muttered, wiping away the other tears trailing from his face. 

“I’ll put cold cloth along your back and your wings,” Delirious said, “you’re not fit to exactly hold up your wings, but either way, you managed to do it. To beat those scientists and researchers. They put you in a bad place, and you crawled out of it.”

Vanoss nodded, grasping the positivity. He watched Delirious head inside where he was going to make them something. All Vanoss did was lie on the grass, feeling the soft blades and closing his eyes. He smelled in the soil, the damp air that moisturized the dirt and cooled his heated skin. He wiped sweat from his face and relaxed until Delirious returned with sandwiches. 

Vanoss extended his works slightly so he could sit properly on the grass. Delirious sat in front of him, biting into his sandwich. 

“There’s food here?” Vanoss asked, staring down at the sandwich. 

“Yeah,” Delirious said, “we sometimes stock up our safehouses. Get some people to look it over every few weeks.”

“I can’t imagine you making that call,” Vanoss said, smiling as he bit into the sandwich. 

Delirious chuckled. “Lui does it. He does most things, but he manages to round up Tyler and Brock to help him with things as well.”

“Why not you?” Vanoss wondered, “what do you do exactly?”

“We’re assassins,” Delirious told him, shrugging. “Hitmen, killers, gunmen, hired gun, whatever you want to call it.”

“I never heard any of those phrases before.”

“I guess, they probably made sure you didn’t know too much of the outside world.”

Vanoss frowned at his sandwich. “They gave me books, children’s books, they were easy to read. But I think they got worried when I started to ask questions.”

“Keeping you contained was their main objective, as well keeping your existence a secret.  _ We _ didn’t even know something like you was inside that facility,” Delirious said. 

“What were you looking for?” Vanoss asked, taking a bite into his sandwich. 

Delirious shrugged. “A weapon, high quality tech, blue prints, or even information. Not a person with wings, an experimentation. Lui has most of the information why you were there, and who you were before.”

Vanoss’s brows furrowed, confused “Who I was before?”

“Yeah,” Delirious fixed him with an odd expression, “you probably had parents before they took you away.”

“Parents?”

“People who birthed you. I’m guessing from the way you’re like a baby—”

“I’m not a baby.”

“Whatever. The facility must’ve raised you...from the way things are, your parents are dead.”

Vanoss wrinkled his nose. “Thanks for telling me that I have no parents. Something I always figured.”

“Hey, I’m just being supportive. Some people don’t think of these things.”

“Maybe it’s with good reason.” 

They were quiet, eating the rest of their sandwiches. But the question remained in Vanoss’s head, he had phrased it wrong, but he wanted to know. It urged him to know, yearning for answers behind Delirious’s brown eyes. 

“Who are you?” 

“Me?” Delirious asked, pointing a finger against his chest.

Vanoss glared. “Who else am I talking too?”

“I’m no one,” he grinned, “Lui made sure of that.”

“You don’t trust me.”

“Why should I?” he asked, and Vanoss eased the spike of pain in his chest from the casual words from Delirious’s lips. 

“I don’t know. I figure since we’ll be with each other for awhile, I should know more about you.”

Delirious stared at him, blank and cold. So cold that Vanoss looked away, feeling ashamed of himself when he didn’t mean too. 

“I was no one,” Delirious said, the words heavy, “I was good at certain things that I took into priority when I started this career.”

“Killing people is a career?”

“No. Killing people is a job, it takes a lot to find the target, to know the target, but to not care about them when pulling the trigger, or slicing their neck.”

Vanoss made a disgusted face at the image, and Delirious laughed.

“I was no one and then I became someone amongst the ranks. Sure there’s different organizations out in the world who could be better than me, more deadly, efficient, but no one will care if they die. People will go on living, and their funeral will be a lonely pit in an unmarked grave.”

“And you? What makes you different from those people?”

Delirious smiled. “Connection. I have friends, they don’t. No one remembers assholes beside them being assholes. Good riddance to a bunch of them lacking empathy.”

“Isn’t it good to lack empathy? To not be—”

“Sentimental,” Delirious said, “What do you think Lui did when he didn’t hand you over to HIVE or CHROME. He gave us more issues. They’re after us, and soon they’ll know where we are. We’re unfortunately out gunned and slowly out of luck.”

Vanoss nodded, nausea didn’t help with the way Delirious told him the truth. He didn’t care about Vanoss, he was only trying to grasp hold of something that could be useful. His wings.

“What are your motivations?” Vanoss wondered, uncertain if he truly wanted to know or be insulted of his own existence again.

“I want this to be over,” Delirious said, leaning back on his hands as he tiled his head up, staring at the blue sky. Since being released from the facility, Vanoss reveled the sky, the air, the world he should’ve known since he was born but was put away to die. “I’ll find my friends, we’ll beat whoever tries to fight us, and we’ll continue with our plans for whatever job we’ll receive.”

Vanoss stared at his neck, his Adams apple that moved when he spoke. The sharp chin and smooth jaw. He was boyish, not hardened as he thought, but his words were sharp and his eyes cold. 

“I would do anything for my friends, anything to go back to the way things were.”

Vanoss smiled. He may have felt the pain in his chest, his heart racing, his mind twisting, but in this instance as the sun streamed along his skin around Delirious’s neck. All he could do was admire him. 


	11. Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious makes a phone call.

Delirious led Vanoss to the second floor bedroom. He made sure the doors downstairs were locked, including the windows, and that anything else wouldn’t be a hindrance towards them while they slept. 

Vanoss made a lot more progress with his wings, and the pain wouldn’t leave for weeks, or possibly even months. He’ll have to continue working on them, and also build up muscle on his own body so his wings wouldn’t be doing most of the heavy lifting. 

This was what was going through Delirious’s mind as he opens the bedroom door and they step inside. He fixed the room and cleaned off the dust layering the mattress that sat against the wall, a mahogany desk and chair sat near the window. The curtains were white, but he made sure there was another curtain blocking the window. He needed to watch the streets and the backyard. They couldn’t be flaked, not when they were vulnerable.

“Sleep.” Delirious pointed to the bed. 

Vanoss closed the door and frowned at the simple blanket covering the mattress, no sheet, and one flimsy looking pillow. But in their situation, there was no such thing as comfort, and he wasn’t entirely sure if Vanoss truly knew the extent of it. 

Delirious sat down on the chair and parted the curtain to glance at the street. He listened to Vanoss kneeling on the bed, pulling the blanket to the side and pulling one wing inward. There was a hitch to his breath, but by the time Delirious turned his head, Vanoss managed to lie down. 

“You know, I wanted to escape so badly,” he said, closing his eyes while his wings settled on the bed, one slightly on his own body. “I thought about it many times, imagined it. But I could never attempt it. I knew they’d eventually find me if I’d ever attempted to run.”

Delirious said nothing. He already told him what he thought about the issue, why bother breaking up the sentimental feelings Vanoss seems to hold onto. Maybe this wasn’t the life he imagined. It wasn’t exactly the one Delirious wanted.

“I hated it,” Vanoss continued, curling his fingers into the blanket. “White walls, squeaky clean floors, tasteless food, and constant insults from the same people who raised me and kept me contained.”

Delirious scoffed, which Vanoss reacted by opening his eyes. “And you think this is any better? On the run with people you barely know, and from people who’ll sell you, kill you, or possibly worse than that.”

“Worse than death?”

Delirious looked out the window. “There’s a lot of things worse than death.”

“It’s better than a prison.”

“One day, you’ll wish you were back between those same suffocating walls.” 

Vanoss glared, almost sneering, but Delirious said nothing. He knew eventually that Vanoss would figure out the truth about reality. Nothing ever came easy. 

“Are you always like this?” he asked, not looking in anyway impressed. 

“I’m just saying.”

They were silent until Vanoss said, “You know, I’m actually happy that I met you.” It wasn’t something Delirious expected to hear. He kept his eyes to the street outside, soaking in the words and trying to understand them. There was a small bit of guilt that filled him up, and he tried to push it away. He knew he had to focus on his next move, including what he and his friends were going to do about CHROME and HIVE. 

Except, as he tapped his foot on the ground, watching the empty street, thinking of Vanoss’s words. His mouth had gone parched, and he took out a phone from his pocket, smoothed a finger over the side before dialing a number. 

There was nothing else to do, it was a mess he was hoping to fix.

An hour later, Delirious was shaking Vanoss until his eyes blinked open and he stared up at Delirious. Innocent with a soft face and much more softer eyes. Unknown to the dangers of the world. Delirious pulled Vanoss to his feet and dragged him from the room.

“What’s going on?” he asked, rubbing one of his eyes with his free hand. 

“They’re coming for us,” Delirious whispered as they walked down the stairs and rounded the hall before stepping through the kitchen and out the back door. 

“Who?” Vanoss asked, sounding more alert, and maybe a little frazzled. He did just wake up, and Delirious didn’t slow his pace as he dragged him across the lawn, past the fence, and down the dark alley. 

“HIVE,” Delirious said, squeezing Vanoss’s wrist. They made it to the end of the alley, and he checked the streets. It was dead. Around three in the morning, and it was probably a good idea to head out when no one would question them. At least not when one has large golden brown wings protruding from their back and dragging on the ground. He was even managing to lose some feathers. 

He recalled the conversation he had on the phone. Around that time, he felt no doubt in his rash decision.

_ “I have The Hybrid. I…I want you to leave me and my friends alone.” _

_ “Is that what you want for an exchange?”  _

_ “It’s all I want. Do you agree or not?” _

_ “Okay. Bring it to…” _

Vanoss stopped, his hand slipping from Delirious’s. “How did they find us?”

They wouldn’t have found him without some help, not like it matters now anyway. It was easy to lie, easy to hide it without giving himself away. He was new, a baby, someone with no prior experience. “They’re a lot more sneakier than I figured. We have to get out of here. I phoned Lui and one of the guys will meet us at a rendez-vous point.” 

Vanoss blinked, breathing hard. Confliction washed over his face, and he was visibly shaking. He was scared, and Delirious recognized the expression, he was thinking of his time in the facility. The trauma, the fear, all of it wringing through his body. Tightly wound and impossible to keep steady. 

Delirious closed the gap between them, and placed his hands on Vanoss’s shoulders. “Everything will be okay,” he told him, looking into Vanoss’s eyes, “you’re going to be okay. Just...follow me and I’ll get you to safety.”

Vanoss sucked in a sliver of a breath and nodded. He was too afraid, unable to truly control his emotions, but Delirious calmed him down, reminded him that they were safe and HIVE was not going to find them. Once he managed to breathe normally, Delirious smiled and they strolled down the dead street. 

And Delirious’s heart squeezed with pain, but he did not let it regret slow him down. He kept walking, the conversation on his mind, the promise. It was all that mattered. If he can do this, then he can find his friends and they can go back to their normal life, taking jobs, and not finding any sentimentality within it. 

It’s not like The Hybrid was meant to stay with them. 

They walked down several blocks, and when an hour and half passed, he led Vanoss down an alley toward a building and an empty parking lot with three light posts on the sides. 

“Is this where we we’re meeting them?” Vanoss asked, glancing around. 

Delirious nodded. “They should be here soon.” 

Vanoss’s wings twitched, one of them extending and bending around Vanoss where his fingers touched the ends and the feathers all the way to the bone structure. He seemed to be comforting himself, and to check the constant pain of when he managed to release them earlier. 

Delirious wouldn’t deny he was curious, and he stepped closer, noting Vanoss’s subtle hesitation before relaxing as Delirious touching the tip of Vanoss’s wing. Soft, warm, a fluttery feeling as Vanoss shifted. 

“Does it still hurt?” 

Vanoss shrugged. “It’s not comfortable, but I know one day it will and I won’t have any trouble with it anymore.” 

Delirious smiled. Optimism. He needed that, and it was shame that it was about to get wiped away in a matter of minutes. 

He placed more pressure as he trailed his hand along the feathers, up to the edges of the bone toward Vanoss’s shoulder. He noticed him shivering from the touch, soft pants leaving his lips, a flush on his cheeks. And Delirious stopped for a split second, realizing what was happening. 

It was short, their time together, but impactful.

“I’m sorry,” Delirious whispered.

Vanoss looked up, blinking. “For what?” 

The words were stuck in his throat, the guilt wrapping around the words he wished to say. All of it a ball of confusion, twined with desperation and regret. His pride might have gone too far, and his decisions were a bit more dire than they should’ve been. 

It was too late anyway.

The helicopter broke the tension, and they turned to the side of harsh blades and a bright light as it began to descend into the middle of the parking lot. 

The name, HIVE, was painted in white on the side.


	12. Trapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanoss realizes what Delirious has done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo. Sorry for a late update. :D It's been a month since...and yeah, I'll get back to updating. :) This is shorter than most chapters, but that's alright. It conveys what it's meant too. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.

Vanoss stared at the name painted on the side of the helicopter. His heart raced painfully inside his chest as questions filled him up. The world moved and shifted, but Vanoss stayed frozen to the cold cement under his feet. There was one word that went past the one he was looking at, and it came in ribbons inside his head, flowing around him. He tried to deny it, but he couldn’t, not with this right in front of him.

_Betrayer._

_Betrayer._

_Betrayer._

He was betrayed. Utterly betrayed by a man he thought he could trust, and the pain of it was too much for him to comprehend as white walls and floors, the strong smell of cleaning products filled his vision. He shook his head, breathing hard through the pain.

“No, no, you can—” Pain flashed as the back of his leg was kicked, forcing Vanoss to his knees that slammed onto the ground.

He heard a sound behind him when he pushed himself up. The harsh cold wind coming from the helicopters blades slashed against his face, making him shudder, but worse was what was against the back of his neck. An object he always seemed to hold for precautions, a weapon Vanoss witnessed him using to kill others. And now it was pointed at him, keeping him pinned to his knees, able to move without the object sinking into his neck, severing his life.

The action is sharp enough to make him whimper as he goes still, unsure of what he’s supposed to do against someone who has been killing for years. A man he gave his trust and loyalty too is now broken, completely indifferent to his silent plea.

Has he been planning this for some time now?

To give him up, but why? They had a plan, an idea to deal with these people, or at least he and his friends had some kind of idea. Maybe he was collateral, and this was simply his way to cut ties.

Two men in black clothes leave the helicopter, the blades are still spinning, and the lights are almost blinding. The gun against his neck doesn’t waver, and Vanoss’s heart is still racing painfully against this ribs. This is it, the end of a line he should’ve foresee if it ever came to it. He should’ve made his own plans.

“Please, Delirious,” he breathes, “don’t do this, please don’t do th—”

“Shut up,” Delirious snapped, almost growling through the loud noise of the helicopter blades. “My job is all I have, and if I have to sacrifice anyone or anything to keep it, I will do what I have too.”

Vanoss is already crying. He feels the warm tears sliding down his face at Delirious’s words, the harsh determination he declared makes the pain in Vanoss’s chest hurt more. He doesn’t want this to happen, but there’s no way for him to save himself.

Since he could remember, he always had to deal with what was given to him. Either a lonely room with a locked door. Or a harness tightening on wings that were abnormal to others. Unable to escape, unable to fly, always trapped and held down. He always ends up in this position, and the pain of it never changes.

He’ll never be free.

The two men stand before them, one is looking at Delirious, talking to him but Vanoss doesn’t listen to their words as the other is holding something familiar in their hand.

Vanoss chokes out a cry as the man grabs him, and the other forces the harness on him. Gasping hard when they tighten it around his swollen wings, forcing them against his back. He cries out, squeezing his eyes as more tears fall, and they force him to his feet as the same ache shoots up his spine.

_Trapped._

_Trapped._

_I’m trapped._

_Again. Again. Again._

_I’m trapped._

Vanoss struggles in their hold, and turns towards him standing in the shadows, barely any light touches his silhouette. He meant nothing to this man. He was only a means to an end. A liability. Collateral.

Tears barely block his vision as he sucks in a breath and screams his name before they pull him into the helicopter.

“Jonathan!”


	13. A Feather In A Stream Of Light.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious is confronted by his friends, and the decision he has made, but also the question he dares ask himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. :) If anyone is a part of my tumblr (I have the link in my bio), but I wrote a post saying I would focus on a single fanfic so I can update a lot more. :D During the weekend, I wrote some chapters for my LOZ fanfic. So now I'm focusing on this fanfic. Yay!
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.

The darkness grows around him as the helicopter rises into the air and disappears over a building. It’s almost surreal, but there was a lot he couldn’t do after he has done something terrible. And that was thinking about it too much, or all those little feelings will find their way inside of him. 

He takes out his cellphone and dials a number, letting out a sigh as he places it to his ear and waits for an answer. He’s a little impatient, tapping his foot while feels a little dizzy about the whole thing that just occured. 

“Hello?” Lui answers, almost with a sigh.

“It’s done,” Delirious answers, finding the words odd in his mouth as he forced them out. He’s not as happy as he thought he would be, but he tries to ignore that. “It’s gone.”

There’s silence on the other line, and Delirious closes his eyes, letting out an impatient sigh, and his chest hurts from the movement. 

“Okay,” Lui finally says, “I’ll text you the safe house, and get everything arranged. I don’t want them skulking around our base. Might have to get Tyler and Brock to burn some files.” 

There was a lot to do now that it was over. Cleaning up this type of hit would take time, but he couldn’t let anything else deter them from what they’ve always done. This was no different. 

“I’ll be back soon,” he tells Lui, and without his friend saying anything more, he hangs up and he’s once more standing alone. The pain in his chest hurts, it trails along his skin and pours throughout his body in heavy waves. Making him shudder, and before he starts his way out of the parking lot, something catches his eye. 

Soft cold wind brushes a single golden brown feather along the cement. He bends down and picks it up between his fingers. 

He was taken back when they first grabbed him, they weren’t gentle, nor when they revealed the harness. There was a strong urge to kill them, to stop them from hurting him, but he didn’t move. He watches as he cried, heard him whimpering and gasping for air as pain slices across his features before they drag him to feet. He’s barely able to stand, but they’re strong enough to carry him. 

He stands, watching, and even with the gun in his hand, it’s the first time he’s ever felt helpless. At least to this extent, he had every right to do something, but he didn’t. And it made him sick inside, so many bells rang in his head, telling him to do something, to stop him from crying. 

And then, he turned, struggling in their grasp, his eyes wide and wet with tears, and his mouth opens as he screams out his name. 

_ “Jonathan!”  _

They pulled him into the helicopter, and he knew they knocked him out. They wouldn’t let him struggle like that for long, nor would they want to hurt him. He’s cargo. A luxury that shouldn’t be harmed in anyway. 

And yet, he had hurt him. Tore trust and loyalty from his hands and ripped it shreds before him. He had placed a gun against him, threatened his life, and essentially gave him away as if he meant nothing. 

He wasn’t supposed to mean nothing to any of them. 

He pocketed the feather and left the parking lot. He had a lot of time to think of his decision, and what it entailed. Except he tried his hardest not to think about it, because guilt can do so much more, ruin the plan he had created. There was no room for guilt. He shoved it away and not bothering to touch it. This was how it was, this was how he grew to be. 

He was a killer. He had given up morals a long time ago. 

Delirious reached the safe house, a small building downtown, it was the second floor of a tattoo shop and a printing store. Right away when he knocked on the door, a secret phrase of there’s they established, and walked through the threshold as the door was unlocked and pulled open, he felt eyes on him as the room settled. 

“What the fuck was that?” Nogla asked, standing near a window with Lui and Brock. He pushed away from Lui who was trying to talk to him, his face twisted as he shoved Delirious back against the closed door.

Tyler, who opened the door, arched his brows in surprise.

“Why the fuck did you let them take him?” he asked, breathing hard, his entire body tense. 

“He was a liability,” Delirious grit out, glaring back at Nogla. “He had to go, there was no other wa—”

Nogla punched him in the face, and Tyler yanked him back, away from Delirious who let out a growl at the flash of pain on the side of his face. 

“Hold up,” Tyler said, shoving Nogla back, “calm down, well you, for fuck sakes.”

“This asshole,” Nogla said, pointing at Delirious, “is a fucking backstabbing bitch! He let them take him.”

“I think it’s really fucked up,” Brock said, leaning against the window, arms crossed. 

“He’s gone,” Brian said, he stood on the opposite side of the room, holding a cup of coffee. “I know it’s fucked up, but Delirious is right, he was a liability. We had no idea what we were going to do with him, and none of us care to recruit others, at least not one with fucking wings attached to their back. He’s too obvious, he’s a fucking target, and I think we should let it go.”

Nogla shook his head, “Fuck you guys.” He walked out of the room, brushing past Brian who frowned at his almost spilled coffee. 

“I don’t like it,” Delirious said, wincing at the bruise forming on his face, “but I had too. We’d all be dead by the end of the week if I didn’t make the decision.”

Brock, Tyler, and Brian didn’t say anything, while Lui stepped over to Delirious. 

“The others don’t know yet,” Lui told Delirious, “Anthony, Scotty, Marcel, and Ohm aren’t back yet. I’ll inform them what happened, and calm them down if they have any...issue with it.”

“Right now, you should get some sleep,” Tyler said, “or at least hide if they decide to fuck you up some more.” 

Delirious shook his head, ignoring the wound. “They’ll get over it, we all have too.” He left the room and found another down the hall that wasn’t occupied. Fortunately, there was a lock. He opened the window a bit, and sat down on the bed. 

Taking the feather from his pocket, Delirious stared at it as the streams of light emphasized the gold tips, all the way to the brown. This was the last thing he had of him, and the only reminder that maybe something in his heart felt more than what he was telling himself. 

That he was a liability to a life he had created, but not to him if he imagined another in its place. Without wings or guns, where would they be, and how would they have met if things were different? 

He couldn’t imagine the scenario for what it is, for what remains.


	14. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanoss is captured by HIVE, and is interrogated by two men, but Vanoss learned patience at a young age.

It hurts. Burning his back, splintering skin and bone with each shift of his body. Even breathing is an exertion upon him, making it more difficult. It’s a lot tighter, digging into his skin, he shudders at the cold after they stripped him of his shirt, leaving his pants on while taking his shoes. He was left in a cage, only able to sit up and do nothing more. 

Except, his betrayal hurt more. It cut deep in his bones, leaving his insides scarred and damaged. He wasn’t sure what else he was meant to do about it. Crying and screaming gave him no relief, even if the pain blinded him, he held onto the image of Delirious doing nothing. Standing watch with a weapon that could have easily been used to kill the HIVE members, but instead, he let them take him away. 

He didn’t even feel guilt for giving him up. There was no emotion in his eyes, on his face. It was overwhelming, stabbing in his chest as he tried to stretch, his bare feet finding the bars before he curled, easing himself on his side, holding back a whimper from his dry lips. 

Sad was a warm trickling thing inside his chest, but he never truly known it, but the intense rush of cold loneliness hollowed him out, while betrayal from the one he trusted cut into the sides of him, peeling back whatever he held onto besides his own self-worth, and even that was fading away with the blood that mixed with his tears. 

It was too easy. He gave up too easily. Not the man he met, the one who fought and swore and smiled. This was different, less coaxing, more tempered by a life he had lived for as long as he could. Threatened by an unseen force in the form of a weak boy with golden damaged wings. 

_ It was too damn easy for you to give up. _

Vanoss sucked in a trembled breath as he attempted to push himself up into a sitting position. His wings stuck to his back, situated painfully in a single position, bone against bone, rubbing together in a raw effort while trying to move, to stretch for relief. 

More. More. More. He needs more. A lot more than this. 

Vanoss grasped for the bar, wrapping his fingers around it and easing himself up. Clenched teeth pushed back a harsh whimper coming from his throat before covering his mouth to stop the cry from leaving. Once he sat up, he trembled, his entire body overheating, burning through, and then he let go of his breath and counted as much as he can. 

“I’m okay,” he whispered with tightly closed eyes, “I’m okay, everything is okay, everything is okay.”

A lie, how easy it was to speak it, to believe it, and he heard it coming from Delirious and he should’ve recognized the sound from the many times he had spoken it to himself. 

“I have to get out of here,” is the words Vanoss didn’t think he’d say, but it was what was on his mind, a futile wonder that wisped in and out upon bitter wind. He tried many times during his entrapment underground. Yet they found him, forced him to the ground as hard fingers pushed into pale skin. 

It was impossible for him to escape, even how much he wanted too. He had tried many times over, and they laughed in his face, made jokes, and then reprimanded his attempts with subjection. 

He wasn’t given food or water for a long period of time. The ache in his stomach, his headaches, and then dizziness would remind him that he shouldn’t have attempted it in the first place. It was his fault. He should’ve listened to them a lot more, and done what he was told, but even then, he would attempt it again, and again, until they let him starve and he was too weak to comprehend much else. 

These people might do worse than the scientists and doctors. They were more aggressive, remorseless, and holding weapons that were stronger than an electrical one. 

It was unfair that he told Delirious his desires and fears, and through it all, he was planning to give him away, and he didn’t think twice about it. He had admired him, cared about him, and was happy for the first time because this man had let him out of his cage. He wasn’t supposed to be the bad person in this scenario, but he ended up as one anyway. 

They bonded through their hardships, and maybe they actually never grew out of it. He should’ve known there was something more about Delirious, it’s not like he even knew him for who he was until he decided to reveal his true self, his secrets, and his lies. 

It was too easy for Vanoss to fall for him, and for every word he spoke. Like Delirious had said, he was a baby. Someone who didn’t know the dangers of the world, and of its people. And now he did.

Vanoss kept his hold on the metal bar, concentrating on his breathing and the pain in his chest until his breath hitched when he heard the door to the room open. Voices occupied the empty space as two men stepped inside. They weren’t the same as the one who grabbed him and placed the harness on him. These two were different. 

They closed the door and glanced around the room. There were several boxes, cages, and a couch sitting inside the room, but nothing more besides himself. And when their eyes settled upon him, he caught interest as they drew near. 

“Holy shit, Rob was right, this thing does have wings,” one said, he had a dark goatee and blue eyes upon tan skin. He knelt down in front of Vanoss, but kept his hands away from the bar, he was cautious yet curious. 

The other looked at Vanoss with skepticism. “Are you sure? Could be a lie.”

“We’re not supposed to open the cage, apparently this thing struggles and I’d rather not get yelled at by Damien, who knows what the fuck that man will do,” the goatee man said, scowling. “Also look at his wings, the harness is keeping it intact. Looks fucking  painful though.”

“Yo,” the one standing said, his arms crossed, and he had no hair on his head, “what are you? Who created you?”

Vanoss frowned, “I’m a hybrid. And I don’t know who created me.” They were questions Delirious and his friends asked, and he was still as clueless as he was before, besides what he actually was that gave him the wings. 

“What created you?” the goatee man asked, arching his dark brows at him. “Another bird hybrid, or a person?”

Vanoss opened his mouth, but nothing escaped. He didn’t know how to answer that, nor did he ever truly think about it before. Delirious mentioned he had parents, and he figured they were human at one point, and the mutation could’ve happened before or after. No one actually knew, and they hoped Lui would find out for them. At least until it was too late for Vanoss to figure out what was actually happening.

“I don’t know.”

“How long were you in captivity for?” the bald man asked. 

Captivity? With who? The first thing he thought about was the white walls and floors, and he figured they were asking about that. 

He shrugged. “For a long time, since I was young.”

“What about the group that extracted you?” the goatee man asked. 

Delirious and his friends. He knew HIVE and CHROME had an issue with them since he was taken from the facility. He was a rarity, and it only made sense these groups of people would come after others who took certain  _ items  _ from an organization. It was their job, like the ones he was previously with. They also had a goal, but their leader didn’t like what the rest of the job entailed, and the others argued about it. Delirious was the one who made the final judgement call and went with the rest of his decision. 

What was he supposed to say to that? 

Tell these people everything he knew about Delirious and his friends? Keep it all a secret, unlike how they dealt with him? He didn’t want to feel the same betrayal as they had given to him, because if they had switched places, he wouldn’t have made that kind of decision. He would’ve thought of something else.

“I was blindfolded,” he said, his heart racing painfully as he recalled Delirious giving him away as if he meant nothing, “I was locked in a room,” the gun placed against the back of his neck, “and they didn’t talk to me until they moved me to another safe house,” Vanoss screaming Delirious’s name before everything had gone black, “I was blindfolded and locked in another room until—”

“We’re not stupid,” the man with the goatee said, cutting Vanoss off, he was smiling at him as he leaned close. “When he brought you to us, apparently you weren’t blindfolded, you weren’t even gagged, and your hands weren’t restrained. Even your wings weren’t held down by another harness.” He chuckled. “You were  _ free as a bird _ .”

“Apparently,” the bald man said, grinning maliciously, “you were screaming that guy’s name before you were taken. You must’ve left a nice little image in his head if he kept you all comfortable like.”

“Were you two great friends in such a short amount of time?” the goatee man asked, laughing, “or were you _ lovers _ ? That thing usually happens when people suffering from stockholm syndrome. I never seen it happen before, but damn, it leaves an imprint on someone. You would lie for him even when he betrayed you.”

“It’s fucking disturbing,” the bald man said. “A liability, surprised he didn’t kill you instead of giving you up.”

Vanoss stared, stunned by their words. Without even thinking about it, he slammed his hands against the bars, scaring the one in front of him. 

“Wow, you’re actually fucking deep in it,” the man said, leaning close, “he must’ve made you feel so fucking good to get you this riled up. Love is such a fickle thing, isn’t it?” He rose from the ground, standing by his friend as they both laughed, and mocked Vanoss who glared from the cage. 

Disgust, loneliness, and hurt swirled in the pit of his chest, squeezing his heart, but all it did was make him grit his teeth and glare. He needed to escape these people. They weren’t kind, they were monsters speaking ugly words. 

“He’s going to have be moved anyway,” they said, standing near the door, the bald man opening it, “Damien wants him in another location by tonight in case those idiots get second thoughts. We don’t want trails.”

The man with the goatee let out a sigh. “Yeah, true, heard about CHROME giving the others problems about the decision. Fucking assholes jealous we got the Hybrid before they did.”

They both left the room, leaving Vanoss in silence, and mostly their words to think about. CHROME and HIVE were having issues about him? Maybe it could help him in his disadvantage. He’d have to be patient, like what he learned back in the facility, people make mistakes all the time. 

An hour later, they returned to the room, but this time they had a blindfold and cuffs. Vanoss didn’t fight them when they yanked him out of the cage and pulled him to his feet. He did hiss at the sharp pain in his back and along his shoulder blades, but he didn’t protest nor struggle. 

They’ll make a mistake, they have too if he’s going to get out of this. 


	15. Wake Up Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious is drinking, and Lui interrupts him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry for the late update! I know I suck at updating, a lot to do! Haha.  
> I hope you're still enjoying this fic! :D
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.

Delirious languished on the couch in the living room of their hideout. Pouring a bottle of clear Vodka into his glass with a new chunk of ice. He listened to it crack as he slowly poured the drink in until it barely touched the edge. Setting the bottle down, he reached for the glass and lifted it, bringing the drink to his lips and closed his eyes. 

It was all he could do now that he had to force the screaming from his head. It echoed harsh, leaving shards of glass cutting deep into his insides, dragging something he’d rather not confront to the forefront of his mind.

He’d rather be numb. 

That was better than confronting what was there, sitting in his mind like an immovable worthless lump. He knew what it was, but naming it would mean he’d be acknowledging its existence, and he’d rather not do that.

This wasn’t his first glass either. One of many since the sun rose and barely fell as the bright white light faded into a more yellow orangish shade upon the shadowed wall. He avoided the light, keeping the blinds covered, and enjoying his time in the dark. It was better, yet more cowardly than he would confess.

_ Jonathan!  _

He drank the rest of the alcohol, shaking his head, not at the awful taste he had gotten used to, but the screaming was still there. Inside his head, and it seems even the alcohol was not helping. 

Taking a deep breath, Delirious set the half empty glass down on the table, and stared at the feather. It had been sitting there for sometime, longer than he thought, and he had many urges to toss it out the window, to rip it up, or store it in a cupboard.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Except he didn’t do that. He didn’t bother to stand or even touch it. It was simply there, a reminder of his guilty mind. 

He known this feeling many times before, but he repeated the words he told himself many times whenever it rose. 

“I’m doing this for my friends, my work, that’s all that matters.” And it never worked, he still felt it eating him up inside. A sick weight of rot that continued to remind him that he still had a conscious. He was still empathetic even how much he wished he wasn’t. 

“What the fuck am I doing?” Delirious asked, sitting back against the chair and covering his face with his hands. Even with alcohol and sleep, he couldn’t get  _ him  _ out of his mind. His dreams were filled of him within the cage, his groans when he forced his wings apart, and his smiles when he found victory in the small things. 

He was free, but all Delirious did was put him back into another cage.

By the time the sun was dominated by the crescent moon and its blanket of stars. He finished another bottle, and he was drunk enough that all he did was lie on the couch, staring at the ceiling while the room spun. His stomach was irritated by how much he had drank, but he didn’t bother entertaining it by getting up and finding a bathroom. 

He didn’t want to get up. 

“Delirious.” 

At least not until now. 

“What?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. 

Lui clicked his tongue as he set the bottle down. “You took more than you should’ve.” 

“Don’t complain,” Delirious told him, smiling at his slurred tone, “I think I deserve this out of the rest of us.” There was a small part of him that called him selfish, but he had to ignore that too. 

“This is what you’ve been doing all day?” Lui asked, shaking his head and letting out a deep sigh. “You’re not even bothering to fix it?”

“Fix what?” Delirious asked, frowning as he glanced at Lui, “there’s nothing to fix.”

Lui rolled his eyes, he always looked disapproving, as if everything about what they did was not good enough. It was an expression Delirious had always looked at, and one he was now wanting to ignore as much as the thoughts in his head. 

“I meant, with what happened to…”

Delirious started to sing which seemed to annoy Lui who walked over to him and started to press something to his face. Soft and familiar, which set off a reaction Delirious hadn’t expected as he reached out for it, sitting up and groaning when he fell off the couch. 

Lui stepped back, glaring. “Why did you decide to get rid of him?” 

“Why did you decide to keep him?” Delirious asked in a more mocking tone while pushing himself up. He stared at the feather between Lui’s fingertips. 

Lui set the feather down, and said, “We do traffick things, but it has to do with guns or drugs. We’re not kidnappers, we’re not going to sell an actual human being to another per—”

“We weren’t selling anyone,” Delirious said, sitting back against the couch, wrinkling his nose at his tone. “We were taking him from point a to point b. That’s all it is.” 

“Bullshit, Delirious, what we were doing was clear the moment we set fucking eyes on  _ him _ .” He rarely seen Lui angry, but a simple push could easily bring him to that point. “These people were doing something to him, and we were getting money for it.”

“That’s what we do. We’re the bad guys, aren’t we?”

Lui scoffed, crossing his arms. “Is that who you think we are? Because we can pull the trigger, and assassinate people. Because we know how to work these fucking people in the business, and seen shit normal people wouldn’t ever want to see, and you call us bad.”

“Yes!” Delirious said, glaring at Lui. “We’re bad people, Lui! Why does this change anything?”

“Maybe because at least we can choose to be different, we can choose the jobs without selling our souls like the rest who’d rather burn in hell, than live in the grey areas of life. Maybe, just maybe,” Lui said, stepping over to Delirious who moved back as Lui leaned closer, “we can find some kind of salvation before we’re condemned.”

“We still kill.”

“At least we have our morals, our guilt, unlike most people, it makes us human, and being human is better than relishing in the act of death,” Lui said, pushing himself away, “you know this as much as I do. You’re drinking.” He picked up the glass with the Vodka and melted ice cube, and took a sip, he didn’t even wince as he continued talking. “You feel guilt for what you did to him, and I know for a fact, Delirious, cause I know you, and you want to make things right.”

Delirious let out a deep sigh, taking out a flask from his sweater pocket and twisting off the cap. “I was doing this for us, you know.”

“Fuck off, Delirious,” Lui said, chuckling, as he sat down.

“I’m telling the truth, asshole,” Delirious said. “I just wanted things to go back to the way it was, and he was a liability.”

Lui let out a loud laugh which surprised Delirious that none of their other friends hadn’t shown up yet. “Seriously, fuck you, Delirious. If he’s such a fucking liability, then why are you sitting in the dark, drinking yourself stupid?” He picked up the feather. “And looking at this? It’s his, right?”

“Don’t touch that,” Delirious said, almost hitting Lui’s arm if he hadn’t moved back, chuckling at Delirious’s poor attempt before setting it down beside the empty Vodka bottle. 

“Like I said, at least we have empathy. It’s better to work with weapons than with kidnapped people and government experiments.” Lui took a shot and set the glass down. “It’s not that hard to choose.”

“We don’t even know him,” Delirious said, ignoring Lui as he leaned against his shoulder. 

“So,” Lui said, trying to get Delirious off of him, “he doesn’t know us, and we were able to get him to open up and trust us.”

“Uh, yeah, probably because we’re the first people he’s ever fucking known besides the people who kept him locked up,” Delirious murmured, fighting Lui for the flask in his hand. “Stop taking my fucking alcohol!”

“You didn’t buy it,” Lui said, wrenching it from Delirious’s fingers. “How about you don’t choose for the rest of us, Delirious. If we want to have a Hybrid on our team, then let us fucking have him. He’ll do better with us than some assholes who force harnesses on him.”

Delirious sat back against the couch and groaned at the memory. HIVE had done that. They forced it on him, and he screamed in fear and pain as he was dragged away, screaming Delirious’s name in the white light of the helicopter. 

He had watched them take him, to treat him so cruelly, and he did nothing. 

“I fucking hate myself so much,” Delirious groaned.

“Yeah, well you should, because I’m sure Vanoss wouldn’t have sacrificed you,” Lui said, getting up from the couch and walking off with Delirious’s flask.

Delirious let out a deep sigh, and blinked at the room around him. It was dark and lonely, he had no more alcohol and was left alone with his thoughts and the feather. 

“I fucking hate myself,” Delirious said, getting up from the couch and staggering off to the bathroom. He shouldn’t have drank so much if he was going to make this work, but first he needed to throw up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh, I always like writing Lui being the leader of the group. I'm not sure why. He's always the one instructing the rest of the group and telling everyone to do something, or he's an important character of some kind. IDK. But I like writing him like that!
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.


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